The Dead Shall Rise
by AshNox
Summary: Remus Lupin has a Time-turner and is raising the dead.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world belong to J K Rowling.  
**

"I've got something to do!" Remus said, sitting bolt upright in his marital bed.

"Unless your next line is 'You!' or "Change Teddy's nappy and give _you_ a lie-in, my love!' I don't want to know." Dora hissed in a hushed whisper, one eye on the sleeping green-haired baby nestled under her arm.

.

"No." Remus assured her, thrusting back the covers and flinging himself out of bed. "It's brilliant. I don't know how I could possibly not have thought of it before… Actually I really don't know how none of us could have thought of it before… I have to tell you, _now._"

.

"If none of 'us' have ever thought of doing it…" Dora yawned. "It's either a really stupid and bad idea or it's impossible. Lie down, think quietly, then tell me which when it's actually the morning."

"No. Shush." He hopped across the room, tugging on trousers, stumbling into the chest of draws as quietly as he could. "...I'm doing this today!"  
.

"Doing what?" Dora growled. Remus looked at her, an eyebrow quirked thoughtfully.

"If you tell me one more time that you love it when I 'growl' I am going to follow up with a bite. You Comprehend?"

"Totally. Listen Dora; can you take Teddy to your mums and go to work as normal. I'll be back in time for dinner… But you might want to make extra."

"_No._" Tonks assured him, trying hard not to look too interested.

"Yes!" Remus assured her. Tonks wrinkled her nose. It was not often that her husband's golden eyes sparkled with such uncrushable enthusiasm. Realistically they never did... Unless he was very drunk and acting inappropriately. Irritably she eased her arm from under the sleeping baby and sat up.

.

"Right." She said. "What's your stupid idea?"

"It's not stupid." Dora smiled at him.

"Alright, what's your idea that's 'so brilliant that not one of 'us' have ever before thought it was a good idea to try'?"

"Right…" He was actually breathless in his excitement.

.

"...Okay." He said. "I'm going to _steal a Time-turner_, go back in time, and stop Sirius dying."

.

"Oh… _Shit_." Dora got out of bed, carefully, and put her arms gently around his neck, kissing his scared cheek. "Remus, love." She said. "You do know that's impossible. You _do_ know. And you're right, of course. Hundreds of people would have done it, if that worked."

"So?" Remus said, wriggling her off. "I don't care. I'm still going to do it."

.

Dora watched him pulling on his socks and shoes, jaw set. "…You were dreaming, Remus love." She said, calmly. "…But I hope it was a nice dream, you know… Sometimes I dream about Alastor being alright. Often, really. Or just that I'm talking to him again… And my dad."

"That's fine." Remus snapped, standing up again. "Don't care right now. Go to work. Act like everything's normal."

"Everything _is_ normal." Dora said, her patience rapidly wearing thin. "All the Time-turners were destroyed; that day, Remus, the day Sirius died. They were all destroyed and they haven't made any more of them. And even if they had, you can only go back twenty four hours."

.

"Going back in time is going back in time." Remus interrupted her, quickly. "You can either go back through time or you can't. They're just capped it at… It's forty eight hours actually. I have researched this, you know? You only have to break off the little gold pin at the top and you can go back as far as you want."

.

"Why don't you just travel back to Voldemort's conception and stop him ever existing?" Dora pointed out. "Apart from the fact that it's against the law and you can't actually change anything."

"That's a lie." Remus assured her, with a bitter laugh. "This is blatantly a lie. If you can't change anything why use them at all? Why not just look at photo's or dip your head in a pensive. And there are Time-turners at Beaubaton's and Durmstrang. _They_ weren't destroyed. They were both given to fifth year students at the start of this term. Fred Muller and Jacque Noir to be precise."

.

"You found out _which_ children have the Time-turners!?" Dora asked. Remus studied her in silence. "Remus… What you are talking about is _so_ against the law. You would go to Azkaban. And it's illegal for a reason. If you actually… If you actually change the past you change the present. _You could destroy the world!_"

"Well, I'm not going back to destroy Voldemort before he was born. I'm not doing anything really. I'm just going to stop Sirius… To stop him dying."

"But that is a big thing." Dora pointed out, firmly. "For God's sake, Remus. That's a massive thing. If Sirius hadn't died… Harry would be different. He might not be out there destroying Horcruxses at all. You… You would be different, Remus. What's to say we would even have got married? …You and Sirius might be out there destroying Horcruxes with him."

.

She swung away, glaring at yesterday's clothes as she yanked them on. Going over to the bed and looking down at Teddy.

.

"…If you change the past." She said, quietly. "It might be the ultimate outcome of the war between good and evil that you change, Remus. But you might sidestep destroying the world. You might not even destroy _us_, although I doubt it… But I guarantee that _that_ night when you were breaking your heart over it all and we conceived Teddy… That will never happen, Remus. If you stop Sirius dying, Teddy won't be here when you get back... _If you even came back._"

.

They finished dressing in silence, the tiny green haired baby slept, pink cheeked, in the bed behind them. "...I'm going to work." Dora told him finally. "Take Teddy to my mums and practicing not being such a tosser." She turned to flash a yellow eyed glare at him but Remus was sitting in the end of the bed, his face buried in his hands, and didn't see.

.

Dora ignored him going over to brush the gentlest kiss against the sleeping baby's cheek. He smelt like milk and love, and just faintly of a rather wet night-time nappy. Her husband, poor excuse that he was for one, was still hiding in his own hands. "…Poor you." She said, darkly. "You mess with time and Teddy won't be here when you come back. I know Sirius was great but was he that great?"

"I wish I hadn't told you." Remus said, sullenly enough to make her crack an angry smile.

"You Pratt!" She told him. "…And grow up!" And she stalked out, purposefully slamming the door loudly enough to wake the baby.

.

.

Enraged red eyes flicked open and an equally red mouth opened in a screech of annoyance. Muttering rudely about his insensitive wife Remus scrambled across the bed, propping his son into the crook of his arm and stuffing an enchanted bottle into his mouth. He watched the baby feeding, squeezing his shirt with a tiny perfect hand. Red eyes drifting through a rainbow of pretty colours, as they blinked blissfully.

.

Remus thought about James, a father at barely twenty, trying to explain what it meant. _A father_. Trying to explain to a nineteen year old Sirius, who barely understood how to look after himself, and Peter, who must have already swapped sides. He shivered, clutching the baby tighter, looking at his own scarred hand, curled around the stripy yellow and black babygro. His son looked like a bumble bee. Like the cutest sweetest bumblebee ever, being held in the clawed scared hands of a beast, which would happily rip him to pieces like a rag doll, were they to get stuck in the same room three nights from now.

.

_"I'm a father!"_ James had said. He'd said it over and over again. He used 'dad' afterwards, but just that time Remus thought he'd forgotten that he liked 'dad' better. "I'm a father." He'd said, _over and over again._ They had all been barely twenty. The war. The prophecy. He had been _a father._

.

"...I had no idea, Prongs." He whispered, trying to blink away the sea of tears. "_I had no idea._"

.

He looked down at the baby that had stopped its eye kaleidoscoping on a sparkling silver grey. Remus studied those eyes in silence until the baby blinked and re-opened them transformed into an inky blackness that looked so like Snape's that Remus laughed.

.

"...Daddy is going on a journey." He said, sliding the baby onto the bed and grabbing a nappy, changing Teddy with practiced ease. "Look I got hold of this last week, Ted. Do you know what it is?"

.

He let the chubby fingers play with the Time-turner as he fastened the popper-studs on the bumblebee all-in-one. "...Right Teddy." He said, stand over the bed finally. "It this works… This will work. ...Come here little man." He scooped up the baby and looped the fine golden chain carefully around both their necks, pressing his son against his heart, carefully cradling the back of his neck for support. "You didn't think I'd leave you behind, did you, Teddy?" He said. "Let's go get Sirius."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Chapter 2 posted for meghsu2002 for reviewing :D. I had just edited it up!**

"You alright, Little Man?" Remus asked, trying very hard not to fall over. Teddy studied him with rather haunted eyes, and vomited copious amounts of milky sick down the inside of his shirt. "Right. Well, don't worry, we won't do that again." Remus assured him, kissing the top of the baby's head and looking around himself.

.

The peeling walls of Grimmauld Place looked delightfully familiar. He eyed the black curtain hung over the portrait of Sirius's mother thoughtfully. "That is your great aunty." He whispered to his son. "Want to meet her?" Teddy peered at him, thoughtfully enough to make Remus smile. "Me neither." He agreed. "Come on." And he hurried up the dusty staircase.

.

Sirius was sad. He was bored, tired, lonely and worried. He felt like the dementors were circling close against the walls of Grimmauld Place, and he could feel their coldness, seeping through.

.

He jumped as the door opened although he knew the house was empty apart from his hateful house elf. For a little while he just lay with his face still buried in the Hippogriff's warm flank, thinking about flying through the sky, or racing madly through the trees of the Forbidden Forest in his animangus form, chasing the stags flying hooves, with Moony at his side. And those thoughts made him imagine James's face, eyes staring at infinity on the burning floor of his home. He felt around for one of the empty bottles that littered the floor and lobbed it at the doorway without bothering to see if the elf was still there or not.

.

Remus cursed, shielding his son from the flying bottle with his back. "That hurt, Sirius." He said, rubbing his shoulder. Sirius yelled, leaping to his feet and flinging his arms around Remus's neck, hugging him and demanding where he'd been and what had been going on.

.

"Drinks!" Sirius concluded, releasing him finally, to look for a fuller bottle. "You're back! Thank God! You know I always expect something awful to have happened to you… _What the hell is that!?_"

"It's a baby." Remus said. "It's a long story."

"Whose baby?" Sirius demanded, looking out the door in case an alarmed mother was lurking on the landing.

"It's a very long story." Remus said. But then he carefully put Teddy down on the floor and flung himself back into Sirius's arms, and cried, a lot.

.

"You're alive." He sobbed. "_You're alive_."

"My hippogriff is going to eat your baby if you leave it lying there." Sirius told him, shoving Buckbeak's head with his foot. He laughed at the speed with which Remus disentangled himself and snatched the baby back into his arms. "That's mightily cute." Sirius said, having a look. "Why do you have a baby, Moony?"

"Like I said, long story. What's the date, Sirius?"

"June the eighteenth." Sirius said, poking Teddy and making him smile. "I love babies." He added, absently.

.

"It's _June the what_?!" Remus yelled.

"_Moony._" Sirius warned him, trying to steal Teddy. "You're scaring the baby with your random yelling."

"I've got him fine." Remus said, tightening his grip. "And he's used to me yelling."

"Random." Sirius said. "Come and have a drink downstairs, I really do think Buckbeak might accidentally eat your baby."

.

"God, I hate that hippogriff." Remus said, flashing it a glare as he took Teddy out of the room. "I had honestly forgotten how much I hated its stupid face."

"Buckbeak loves you, Moony." Sirius assured him, poking Remus as he went down the stairs. "Let me carry the baby." He added. "Why has it got green hair?"

"Long story." Remus reminded him. "I told you."

"Yeah-yeah. Did you hex the baby? Do you remember when we hexed Snape's hair green? That was so funny."

"It wasn't funny. It was cruel." Remus said, stopping on the stairwell and looking Sirius up and down, with his straggly unbrushed hair and his shamelessly brilliant smile. "You're alive." He breathed. "Yes. I guess you can hold the baby. But don't drop it, _him_... Don't drop him."

.

"I have never dropped a baby in my life." Sirius said, chucking Teddy in the air and catching him. "I have never even nearly dropped a..._ Whoops_!" He laughed, evilly as Remus fell down the last two stairs. "Just kidding." He assured him. "I like this baby. I like it's face."

"Good, because it's related to you." Remus said.

"And now I like it less." Sirius sighed, tucking the baby under his arm and bouncing down to meet Remus in the hall.

"I'm glad your back." He said, summoning two bottles of Butterbeer.

.

"I went to get bandages?" Remus said, trying to be calm. "I just can't believe it's the eighteenth! It's supposed to be the _seventeenth_."

"It might be the seventeenth." Sirius shrugged, going down to the kitchen and plonking Teddy on the table; teasing him with the Butterbeer bottle to make him laugh, while Remus frantically poured over his moon calendar, ripping the pages in his panic.

.

"...It really is the eighteenth!" He said, finally.

"Drat. That's a whole day of your life you'll never see again!" Sirius laughed.

"_It's really important_." Remus assured him. "Sirius... You're going to die today! Where am I? Has Kreature attacked Buckbeak yet?"

"...Wow." Sirius said. "My favourite one of those questions is 'where am I?' Holy Hippogriff, the baby's gone black!"

"He does that." Remus said, uncorking his bottle of Butterbeer and drinking it all. Sirius lay Teddy on the table and pretended to eat him, inciting shrieks of rather ear-splitting laughter.

.

"...Right." Remus said, bracing himself. "I'd better hold Teddy." Sirius looked up with a white toothed grin.

"...You what?" He asked.

"The baby." Remus said. "Let me hold the baby, because this is going to be quite shocking for you."

"Nothing is more shocking than a grown man calling a baby 'Teddy'." Sirius assured him. "Fine, you hold your teddy if it makes you feel better." He attacked the baby again with more tickles, before letting Remus take him away.

.

"Right." Remus said. "I can't remember where I am…"  
"The kitchen, clutching a multi-coloured baby that you like to call 'Teddy'."

"But I'm out somewhere." Remus said. "...Am I out getting bandages?"

"No." Sirius said. "But you did that earlier."

"_Oh God!_" Remus wailed. Sirius's grin broadened.

"You got bandages for Kreature's hands because he attacked Buckbeak with a knife. _That worthless little shit_."

"Yeah, I wish I hadn't." Remus assured him. "And you were upstairs looking after Buckbeak, weren't you?"

"Obviously." Sirius agreed. "Can I hold the baby again? You look more shocked than me, and I'm not insane, or not _as_ insane as you clearly are, anyway. You didn't steal this baby, did you, Moony?"

"No, it's my baby." Remus said, adjusting his grip as Teddy lurched enthusiastically towards Sirius's outstretched hands.

"_I hope you're joking!_" Sirius assured him.

.

"Sirius, _you're going to die today_." Remus told him, finally.

"…Right." Sirius said. "I think I'll stick with the 'I hope you're joking' comment."

"I'm not joking." Remus assured him. "And I'm not mad. I've used a Time-turner, see…" He yanked it out from under his shirt.

"I'm going to die _today_?" Sirius said. "And you came back?"

"Of course I came back." Remus said. It actually made him feel a lot calmer. _He came back_. "I said I would." He said. "_I said I would, so I came back._"

.

"Wow. That's nice of you." Sirius grinned. "Do you know I don't even remember you ever saying you'd 'come back'. So have I _just_ died or is this some random whim you've had way off in the future. You are looking rather... I'm sure you won't mind me mentioning it, now you've mentioned the coming from the future thing, but you were rocking the whole 'Funky Professor Lupin' look when you went out half an hour ago."

"But where did I go?" Remus asked him.

"Oh… Kingsley's?" Sirius pondered. "Was it… I think Snape? said something to Kingsley…? It might have been to Tonks…? To be honest, I was more worried about poor Buckbeak."

"_It can't be that time already!_" Remus wailed. "_I turned it back forty three thousand and seventy two turns!_" Sirius laughed, manically.

"Let's see your fingers then." He said. "Forty three thousand and seventy two turns has got to leave blisters."

"_Stop it_." Remus pulled his hand away. "Sirius, listen. Soon… Any minute now…" He glanced fearfully at the fireplace. "Any minute now... _Has Snape been here_?" He demanded, abruptly.

"Nope." Sirius said. "Thankfully!"

"That lying little shit said he came here!" Remus growled.

"You're scaring the baby." Sirius warned him, putting a hand on his arm; a warm living hand.

.

"Right... _No matter what,_" Remus said, calmly. "_You are not going to die today. Alright?_"  
"Thanks." Sirius tried hard not to laugh. "Although, strictly speaking, that does count as altering the future, Moony."

"I know and I don't care." Remus said firmly.

"Good. I like breaking rules." Sirius concluded. "Voldemort didn't win, did he? You aren't on an Order Mission to resurrect me from the dead to save the day, are you?"

"No. I think Volemort's going to lose." Remus told him. "He has Horcruxes. That's how he survived his death at James's. Harry's tracking them down and… Yes, whatever. Doesn't matter… Not much time, Sirius. But it's all good, I think. We'll get the Horcruxes and probably win. Almost certainly."

"_And you want to mess with that!?_"

"You're worth it." Remus assured him. Sirius laughed again.

"I love you to!" He said. "You and you're green haired… _Pink haired_ baby!? This baby is brilliant! Can we keep him? Oh, please can we keep him, Moony?!"

"Sort of." Remus said. "Listen. Harry thinks you're being tortured by Voldemort. Snape's supposed to have talked to you. That lying piece of slime! I meant to show up yesterday, which would have been much better. Given us time to explain to Harry… Never mind. Okay... Harry _think's_ your being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. So he's going to go and try and save you."

.

"_You what_?" Sirius stopped prodding the baby. "_You what, Remus_!?"

"Harry thinks you're being tortured by Voldemort so he… Sirius, remember what I said about keeping calm?"

"Yes. You can t_ell me everything on the way!_" Sirius told him, jumping up and snatching a handful of Floo powder. "_And leave that baby here!_ _Let's go!_"


	3. Chapter 3

Remus left Teddy on the table, fighting Sirius for the handful of Floo powder and flinging the whole container across the room in a dusty green cloud. "_You're not going anywhere!_" He screamed. "_You stupid idiot! You're not going to die!_"

"_Harry is going to Voldemort!?_" Sirius screamed back at him. Remus yanked his sobbing son into his arms and backed up. _"…Fine! I'll go outside and disapparate!_" Sirius screamed at him.

.

"_Harry is fine!_" Remus yelled, covering his baby's ears. "_Everyone's fine! It's just you that dies, Sirius_... _Just…_ you_._"

.

"…Get up!" Sirius ordered, hauling him back to his feet. "There's no time to sit around crying about this. I love that you came back, Moony. I love you but _come on_! I'm not going to…"

"_Stay here_." Remus begged him. "Everyone else is fine. Harry is fine. Just… stay here."

.

"Harry is not fine." Sirius clarified. "Harry is trying to save me and he is walking into a trap? He's going to fight Voldemort?"

"They all survive." Remus assured him. "You just have to wait it out."

"_Wait it out!_? How do you know that everyone will survive if I'm not there!? Were you watching me the whole time!? _Did I not do anything to help!?"_

.

"…Nothing major, I don't think." Remus said. "You just… You were great, obviously, but you didn't do anything… You not being there won't change the outcome."

"You're _one hundred per cent_ sure about that, Remus? You're sure that if I'm not there, whoever had the opportunity to hurt me won't hurt Harry instead? Or you? Or Tonks?"

.

"Sirius, I was going to come yesterday and stop Harry going, the Time-turner must lose a couple of seconds from each day. It's been a lot of days since you died."

"Forty Seven thousand turns of the Time-turner? How many days _is_ that?"

"Too many." Remus said. "Please, Sirius. _Please, trust me_!"

"You know I trust you… Moony, that's not actually _your _baby is it?" Remus ran his fingers through his tussled hair.

"…Yes." He said. "…Actually it is."

"_Wow_." Sirius said. "…Wow …And you brought him back through time to meet me?"

.

"I brought him back because… There was this night when I was very sad about your death and I got very drunk and… set the ball rolling, so to speak, for the arrival of Teddy. I thought if I left him, then once you were saved… _He might not be there for me to come back to_."

.

"Take him home, Remus." Sirius told him, getting up to wrap his arms tightly around Remus's and his baby. "I'm okay with this. Take your son home… Oh, and rename him 'Sirius', because Teddy is a rubbish name."

.

"It's his…" Remus gave up, pressing his fingers under his eyes which were getting really blurry with tears. He took a heavy breath and tried to pull himself together. "…He's named after Ted Tonks." He explained. "He's dead as well. You'll see, Pads. You'll come back with me, and you'll see."

.

"Did you get my _cousin_ pregnant? …Oh my God! _You got my cousin pregnant!_" Sirius yelled.

"I was really _very upset_." Remus pointed out. "And thank God I did or Teddy wouldn't exist." He raised the baby, aiming its adorable little face at Sirius. Sirius growled.

.

"…Well, I do like your baby." He said. "He looks like me."

"That's because he's a 'Black'. Your second cousin twice removed." Remus told him.

"No, it's because he's a metamorphmagus!" Sirius shouted. "And he's mirroring my face back at me, because_ you slept with my cousin_! …No wonder I'm going to loose this bloody duel, Remus! You've filled my head with that much stuff!"

.

"You're not going to die. I'll put an Imperio curse on you if I have…" They both froze as the fire flamed a brilliant Emerald green. "_Sirius! No!_" Remus screeched, snatching around his baby son for Sirius's arm. "_No!_"

.

"Change his name!" Sirius yelled back, drowning out the explanations of the people calling to him urgently through the fire, as he dived into it. "…Because I'm awesome!"

.

Screaming in frustration Remus cradled the baby's head and dived into the green blaze after him, shouting to be sent to the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries.

.

_No place for a baby_. Not even someone else baby. Remus rested against the back of the veiled archway that Sirius was minutes from falling through; trying to muffle his baby's terrified howls. _Sirius was right. Dora was right. Teddy was more important_; _than anything_. _He was going to get his baby killed. He was a terrible person and a terrible father._

.

"Come on, you can do better that that!" Sirius laughed. _Laughed_.

.

_Yes_, Remus thought. _I can_. He stood up, thrust the curtain aside, slung the gold chain around Sirius's neck and banged the gold pin hard back into place.

.

They shot backwards; upwards; away. Plunging through blackness, Teddy's scream of terror streaming behind them like the tail of a comet.

.

.

The ground hit up against Remus's feet suddenly enough to make him fall against the bed, clutching Teddy against him. The clock beeped at his bedside, alerting him to the fact that he was late taking Teddy to Andromeda's and that he was in his marital bedroom, and waking from the most vivid dream of his life. And then Sirius fell on top of him.

.

"You're alive!" Remus screamed.

"Waaaa!" Teddy howled.

"Wow." Sirius said. "Did you honestly just do that?"

"_I saved you_." Remus said. "…_I saved you_."

"…I'm not sure yet." Sirius said, peering at his hands as if he expected them to start fading away. "…What _did_ you do, Moony?"

.

"Well, I put the Time-turner round your neck and put the pin back in." Remus explained, unlooping the chair from around them all. "The pin stops you traveling back more than forty eight hours. When I put it back in… It just brought us back."

"Forward." Sirius said. "This is your house?"

"It's Dora's house." Remus said. "It was Mad-Eyes. But he died."

"And you moved in? With _Dora_?" Sirius asked him, incredulously. "After shagging her mother?"

"Oh… _No_." Remus laughed, nervously. "When I said… When I said 'your cousin', what I meant…"

"You slept with my cousins daughter?!" Sirius yelled.

"And now _you're_ making the baby cry." Remus pointed out. "But you're _alive_." He added, putting the bed between them and trying to get his wand free of his pocket. "You're actually alive and about to kill me… I just saved your life, Pads."

"…And we didn't interfere with the time line." Sirius admitted. "I mean… You still thought I was dead. Everyone did. You thought I fell through the veil."

"You _did_ fall through the veil." Remus assured him. "That's why I went back."

"But I never did fall through the veil." Sirius pointed out. "That is the magic of time travel. You only ever _thought_ I did. Really you saved me all along."

"No, you really fell though… Oh, why not!" He put Teddy down and hugged Sirius again. "I saved you. You're alive! '_And the dead shall rise from the grave'_."

.

"Judgement Day!?" Sirius asked him. "You brought about the end of the world, Moony!?"

"I hope not." Remus assured him, flicking back the curtains to peer out of the window and see what the world was doing. "…It looks okay out there. Anyway, like you said, _nothing's changed_. Up until this moment everyone thought you were dead."

"Brilliant." Sirius agreed. "You're bloody brilliant, Moony. Give me the Time-turner then. I'm going to go get James!"


	4. Chapter 4

"…You can't go and get James." Remus stammered staring at Sirius's broad grin; hand held out for the Time turner.

"You could come with me, Moony, but it's not big enough for three is it? …Not unless one of them is _pint-sized_." He added, going over to kiss Teddy's nose. "…I do love Baby Sirius." He said, adoringly. "What a bitch Dora is, not letting you call him Sirius in the first place."

"Actually she suggested it." Remus told him. "But I said it would be too painful." Sirius laughed, shoving him as he took the Time-turner and peered at it thoughtfully.

.

"…What do I press?" He asked, squinting at the tiny hourglass.

"You take the gold pin out." Remus told him. "And you make turns, three for each day."

"You do the maths." Sirius suggested. "And remember what you said about losing a couple of seconds in each day. Better to arrive too early, and get to torture Peter for a few hours, than arrive too late…" He sighed, going over to look at the baby again. "…I bloody love you, Baby Sirius." He told Teddy, who grinned up at him, kicking his feet about.

.

"Pay attention." Remus told him. "You have to put it round James's neck moments before his death, so it looks like he died. Do you… Did you see James's body in the house?"

"No." Sirius said. "It was destroyed. Everything was on fire… Horrific. Hurry up with this, Moony."

"Bring James back." Remus told him. "Then James can go back afterwards, hide in the bedroom, and get Lily."

"I'm getting James." Sirius assured him. "How many twists?"

"A few. We might want to take it in turns." Remus told him grimly. "It'll be lunch time before you leave."

"Get turning then." Sirius told him. "I'll feed Baby Sirius."

.

"I swear, if you call him that in front of his mother, your resurrection will have been for nothing." Remus told him.

"Whatever, Moony. Get turning…" Sirius told him, scooping Teddy up into his arms and draping him around Remus's neck, where he yanked at his dad's hair. "You tell me if this makes you lose count." Sirius said. "We're just making you feel loved."

"I feel loved." Remus assured him, wincing as the baby managed to tear loose a good fistful of his hair. "There's milk in the fridge. Warm it up. Not too hot. And _don't taste it_."

"Why?" Sirius asked at once.

"Because it's Teddy's milk for Teddy." Remus told him. "…And there is not an infinite supply."

"Who's Teddy?" Sirius asked, giving Remus another baby crushing hug. "I don't know any baby's called Teddy, Moony."

"I am so glad you're back." Remus assured him, blinking his eyes in an effort not to actually cry about it, and continuing to twist and count... Twist and count… Twist and count.

.

.

.

"…We'll make James do all the twisting himself." Sirius said, lying on the bed with Teddy asleep on his chest. "Pass me another sandwich, Moony, I'll wake Baby Sirius if I move."

"I'll lose count." Remus said, holding the Time-turner carefully, to nudge the plate over with his foot. "Why leave it out of reach?"

"Just because... I'm freshly alive." Sirius improvised. "...So me and Baby Sirius are Siriusly tired."

"She is going to _re-kill you_, if you call Teddy that." Remus reminded him. "She is going to march you to the Death Chamber and punt you head first through the veil.

.

"Baby Sirius won't let her do that to me." Sirius said laughing until he choked on the sandwich. "…I shouldn't eat lying down." He coughed the obstruction clear and took another bite. Remus grinned at him.

"Nearly done." He said. "Pads, James will only be twenty one. He'll look like Harry."

"How old are you?" Sirius asked, looking him up and down. "…How old am I, again?"

"Mental age or physical age?" Remus asked. "Here you go. Be careful. _Please be careful_."

.

He slipped the thin golden chain over Sirius's neck. "…Shove the pin back in as soon as you get the chain around both your necks. It will immediately prevent the time travel and recoil to this exact moment dragging James with you… _Be careful_."

"I am _always_ careful." Sirius assured him. "Thanks again for saving my…" Remus released the twisted timer and watched Sirius vanish.

"I'll see you in a second." He said. "…Any second now… You'll be back… Alive…" He picked Teddy up, pacing the room. "I'm not insane am I?" He asked the baby.

.

.

"…I am insane." He told Teddy. "But that doesn't mean… He isn't coming back… With James… Alive... Laughing…

.

"…God. …He should be back straight away…" He looked around the room for any evidence that he had really traveled back in time, stolen Sirius at the moment of his death, brought him back, and then sent him to 1981 to bring James back from the grave.

.

There was a half-eaten sandwich. There was an empty bottle of baby bottle that he had watched Sirius give to Teddy. It wasn't really proof.

.

There was another possibility of course; the possibility that he wasn't mad. That he _had_ stolen a Time-turner and saved Sirius from the veil… and then just let him go again.

.

He'd let Sirius vanish into 1981, on the night Voldemort arrived at James's house to kill Harry. And Sirius hadn't come back. For one reason or another Sirius had not wound the chain around James, put the gold pin back into the Time turner and cancelled the trip. _He hadn't come back._

_._

Sirius should have come straight back to the exact moment when he had left… For a reason that would never be known, Sirius had _never put the golden pin back_.

.

He was not returning.


	5. Chapter 5

In front of Sirius's eyes the room spun, crazily. He fell over, as the floor vanished, and landed hard on James's avocado shag pile rug. "Sirius!" Lily exclaimed, running out of the kitchen in a mad pair of flares. _Alive_... Lily, alive… Looking unbelievably young.

.

"Sirius what the hell are you doing?" She laughed. She was holding a wooden spoon, coated in sauce, which she dropped with a cry of alarm as she saw his face. "_Oh my God, Sirius!_" She yelled, running towards him and then away again, her face blanching in shock. "_What's wrong with you!?_" Not sure if she wanted to reach out for him or not, she stared down at him before running to the stairs. "_James!_" She screeched. "_James, come down here now!_"

.

"Trying to get a baby to sleep up here!" James said, springing down the stairs on his long springy legs, like some very springy, _very young,_ deer.

.

"_It's Sirius!_" Lily had picked the spoon up and pointed it frantically at Sirius, who had forgotten all about standing up... Forgotten about everything really. "It's Sirius. Someone's done something to his _face_!" As calmly as he could, Sirius covered his eyes and took a couple of shuddering breaths. A moment later James's big bony hand clamped down on his shoulder and his best friend was down on the rug next to him.

.

"Padfoot." James said, other hand finding his other shoulder, trying to stop him coiling over on himself, although Sirius couldn't stop. He couldn't stop the animal sounds that were so far beyond sobs, the tears that streamed uncontrollably down his cheeks. "Padfoot!" James gave him another shake before losing his shoulder to slap him hard around the face. "Sorry, mate." He said. "But pull yourself together, yes?"

"_Yes_." Sirius sobbed. "Yes… What day is it, James... _James!_"

.

"What day do you think it is, Pads?" He asked, calmly, exchanging a look with his wife.

"Look at his_ face_." Lily hissed, kneeling on the carpet as well and putting her arm around Sirius's shaking shoulders. "_Your face,_ Sirius!"

"Love; he doesn't give a toss about his face. Someone has _died_." James muttered, patting Sirius on the back again. "Leave off the face… It doesn't matter… Pads?" He ruffled Sirius's hair as if he was actually in his animagus form. "You can't let it beat you, Pads, or they win… Go and find out what's happened, Lil." He added to his wife.

.

"No!" Sirius forced himself back to his feet, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "Stay in here, Lily. Stay together. Where's Harry?"

"He's fine." James assured him. "In his cot, mate. Just closed his eyes and we are not waking him up if Voldemort himself shows up."

"What day is it?" Sirius said again.

"It's Halloween, Sirius." Lily told him. "Sirius, your face…"

.

"_Oh my fucking God_!" Sirius howled, stumbling around the room, clutching at the carved pumpkin on the window ledge; yanking the curtains closed.

.

"Pads, your safe here." James reminded him. "Slow down, mate."

"We're not safe here." Sirius assured him. "We're… Right. It's Halloween... _It's Halloween?_ We counted… _Moony counted_."

"You talked to Moony?" James asked him, at once. "Is this why you're so upset? You think he's really leaking information?"

"No!" Sirius covered his face again for a moment. "…No." He said. "No. Not Moony… I was so wrong! I was _so_ wrong."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't help himself." James pointed out. "You always think you're 'so wrong' when you've talk to him."  
"No. _We're wrong_." Sirius snapped. "We're wrong, James… _James_."

.

And it _was_ James. James, alive… In a bad tank-top. Young, skinny and alive... Actually alive. "Okay…" He said. "It's Halloween. What time is it, again?"

"This is the first time you asked, mate, so it's not 'again'." James flashed him a grin. "And do I look like a Muggle to you?"

"_James_!" Lily shoved him. "It's just after seven, Sirius. Moony hasn't done this to your face, has he?"

"Aging charm." James said, thoughtfully. "You look like your Uncle Cygnus mate, without the evil… or the dress-sense… You are _bloody skinny_, Pads."

"Sirius, you are." Lily assured him. "I'm serving up dinner. You sit down with us and have some food."

"He's not having my dinner!" James told her. "There is no way that meal can stretch for three adults."

.

"Three… You can't…" Sirius muttered, a hand rising to his mouth in alarm. "_What time is it_?" He said again.

"Still around seven I expect." James said. "You need a nice warm butterbeer, Pads. And then you can tell me what's gone on."

"_There isn't room for three_." Sirius said. "Moony has this baby. In the future. It's got green hair. But it's tiny… Shit, James… _I need to speak to you on your own_."

.

"I'll go check on Harry." Lily assured him. "Tell James, Sirius, don't bottle it up. And I'll see if I can't find something to reverse that ageing charm."

"Thanks." Sirius said. "…Thanks, Lily."

.

He watched her stop in the door way; her eyes looked like Harry's. She flashed him a grin, and vanished out of sight. Sirius took a single heavy breath and turned back to James, who was watching him, expectantly.

.

"So…" James said. "Not an aging charm, right?"

"Nope." Sirius agreed. "James, can you trust me?"  
"With my life." James assured him. "Green haired baby? Really?"

"Really." Sirius said, trying to summon a smile. He pulled the Time-turner out from beneath his shirt, stretching the chain on the off chance that it had grown longer.

.

"You've come to change something." James said. "I'm hoping that I've told you to do it, because we both know what your plans are like, Pads."

"Moony did it." Sirius assured him. "It's Moony's plan."

"Alright." James nodded, thoughtfully. "So that's really is true? Moony _isn't_ the one leaking the information… Oh, Shit. We owe him a massive apology… Although, he really has made it look like it's him…." He blew into his hands and moved briskly on. .

"Deal with that later. What do we need to do now?" He asked. "It's going to be hard to get out of the house. Albus has my invisibility cloak. I've only got this shitty replacement." He flapped it open to show Remus the obvious shadowy patches before tossing it behind the sofa. "And Godrick's Hollow is crawling with Death Eaters. We might have a job getting out to do anything."

.

"We don't need to." Sirius told him, calmly. "We need to leave. Very soon. "

"Because…?" James asked him.

"_Because Voldemort finds you, tonight._"

.

"…Shit." James said. He went to the bottom of the stairs, sweeping his hand over his hair and taking a couple of deep breaths. Finally he came back.

.

"Right." He said. "Oh… _shit._ Right… What does Moony think we should do? I'm going to die, right?"

"No." Sirius said. "No. You're not going to die, because I'm going to take you away with the Time-turner."

"That's not physically possible." James assured him. "It's fine... I'm going to die… Right… At least I'll leave a bloody lovely corpse, yes?"

.

"There's nothing beautiful about anyone's corpse." Sirius assured him. "I've seen enough of them… I'm dead too, actually."

"You're dead?" James asked, looking back over him in alarm. He laughed. "Pratt." He added. "How long have we got, and how to we get Lily and Harry out?"

"We don't." Sirius said. "There isn't enough chain. You have to come back with me. Then you can come back for Lily and Harry. Baby Harry will fit under the chain with you and Lily, like Moony's baby did with us. But you have to come away with me first."

.

"Sirius?" James stammered. "I what…_I have to leave Lily?_"


	6. Chapter 6

"…_I have to leave Lily?_" James asked.

"Yes." Sirius nodded. "This time. But then you can come straight back for her."

"…I don't think it's possible." James said, considering it carefully. "…Can I take Harry with me?"

"No." Sirius said. "No, or everything will change and then we might not be able to get back for Lily. It has to all be as close to the same as possible."

"_Alright_." James nodded. "Right… You hide behind the couch. I'll tell Lily you've gone home."

.

"Do you…? You're going to be alright with this?" Sirius asked him. James pointed behind the sofa, gesturing for Sirius to hurry up as he sat himself down, legs crossed, head resting lazily on the headrest.

.

"…Should I get my wand?" He suggested.

"Not unless you were going to anyway." Sirius said, shifting edgily on the shag-pile behind the sofa. He'd just found one of Harry's toys. A small felt hat that he was sure he had seen in the house's burning living room, afterwards.

"Nope." James didn't get up. "I was going to have dinner with Lily. Spanish chicken. Have you tried that?"

"No." Sirius whispered back. "Is it nice?"

"Yes, I like it quite a lot. So what's going to happen?"

"I don't know." Sirius told him. "He's going to come in. Lily was still upstairs on her own, or she ran up there. You were down here but it was burnt and destroyed..."

.

"He'll do that after we've gone." James concluded.

"Yes." Sirius said. "James… Should we tell Lily? So she knows."

"No. Not if we have to keep it the same as possible. Tell me how you died and how Moony saved you."

.

"Right... Moony is living in the future. He got my cousin's daughter, Dora, pregnant."

"That is _so_ unlikely." James said with a sort. "How far in the future are we talking about? Didn't we babysit Dora last year? She's about five."

"I don't know." Sirius said. "I was just… It's a long story. I was trapped in Grimmauld Place."

"Nothing new there." James laughed. "Your mum still alive?"

"I had a hippogriff." Sirius said, instead. He could hear Lily coming back.

"No way!" James said, lowering his voice. "One of those flying horse bird things… Hey, Lily! What's Harry doing up again?"

"He was lonely... Where's Sirius?"

"Said something about wanting to shag older women while he was under the influence of the aging charm and buggered off." He shrugged. Lily laughed at him.

"Of course he did!" She scoffed. "Come have something to eat. I think Harry's still hungry."

"Right." James stood up. "Hey, Lily..." He beckoned her back, studying her quizzical smile.

.

"…I would describe that as your 'pranking face'." She added, stopping short of him. "Unless you have something very romantic planned. And I use the term 'romantic' loosely. You do know I'm holding an innocent child, don't you?"

"I am very romantic." James reminded her. "And I just wanted to say _I love you, Lily_."

"And now I _know_ you're up to something." She assured him. "Come and eat, James… Oh, who the hell is that at this time of night? If that's Sirius again _make _him come and eat something."

"It's not." James said. His eyes flicked over his wand, and then over his wife and son. He flashed her a faultless smile and went out into the hallway.

.

Sirius pressed his hands over his face, listening to the door breaking; the scuffle in the hall. He heard Lily drop something in the kitchen. "…_Lily, take Harry and go!_" James's voice, loud and clear on the far side of the sofa. "_I'll hold him off_!" Lily running… Horrible giddy inhuman laughter.

.

James flung himself over the sofa, landing on Sirius's legs. "_Right now_!" He said, yanking Sirius's shirt open and diving under the golden chain.

"_Let me!_" Sirius shouted at him, fumbling with the tiny golden pin.

"_Spin it, you moron_!" James ordered, as an explosion of green light ignited the sofa.

"_Please, let me!_" Sirius tried to stop James spinning it. "_I have to put in this pin!_" Which James had just sent spinning into the shag-pile carpet. Sirius snarled in frustration, James unhooked the golden chain and flung himself across the room, shaking out the rather poorly made invisibility cloak and flinging it back in Sirius's direction. "Hide till it's over!" He yelled. "Maybe come back and try again!"

"_James!_" Sirius snarled, levelling his want on Voldemort and trying to stun him.

.

"Use 'accio'!" James yelled at him, as Voldemort brought down half the ceiling, crushing Sirius back down onto the ground. James flung himself back across the room, yanked Sirius's wand from his lifeless grip, covering them both with the cloak. "Accio pin!" He yelled, as another explosion burst out his eardrums. Sliding under the gold chain he shoved the pin back into the Time-turner and vanished.

.

.

.

…It was completely quiet because the explosion had damaged James's ears. His mouth tasted of blood, and beneath him, Sirius looked completely lifeless; grey, waxy skinned and skeletal. He couldn't hear what was happening in the house anymore, but he knew.

.

He knew that Voldemort was killing his wife and his baby. That he wasn't there to protect them. And his best friend was dead, beneath him. That Peter not Remus had betrayed them… That Lily and Harry were dead… Being murdered… Gone. _And he had left them_.

.

He lay flat against Sirius, the horror of it fighting to over come him. Crazy thoughts jumping about, his heart pounding and aching, and _aching._

.

"…_We should have tried to kill him, Pads_." He tried to say. He couldn't even hear his own words, in his own head and cringed in fright as a hand seized his arm, and a moment later the bizarre sight of a Remus old enough to be his own father, was yanking away the invisibility cloak and talking animatedly, unheard by his damaged ears.

.

"…I think Sirius is dead." James told him. He couldn't hear his own voice. He could see Remus's horrified expression as he pulled James aside and peered down at Sirius. He could see Remus smile.

.

"_No, he's not dead_!" Remus said, very faint and echoing in his damaged ears. Old Remus still sounded just the same as real Remus. James watched him haul Sirius to his feet; Saw Sirius's familiar silver eyes flicking open, blinking them both into focus and shrugging Remus off to pull James into a bear-like embrace.

.

James let himself be hugged. He cried hard against Sirius's neck, for his lovely wife and his baby, and for Voldemort coming into his house to kill them. He cried until the sound gradually returned and the noise he was making finally made him pull himself together.

.

"…You really have got a baby." He said, finally. "I remember when Harry was that small… Sirius thought he had green hair."

"It changes colour." Remus told him, drying his own eyes. "Are you alright, James?"

"I just left my wife and child to be murdered by Voldemort." James told him. "How alright do you think I feel?"

"I'm sorry." Remus said. He had _no idea_ what else he could say. "…Harry lived." He added, uncertainly. "Do you… Sirius did tell you that Harry lived, didn't he?"

"_Harry lived?_" James asked. "…_What?_"

"It was those spells that Lily learned." Sirius explained. "The old magic. It worked. It killed Voldemort… He left Horcruxes. But it worked."

.

James didn't speak. He moved away from both of them, going to sit on the far side of the bed, thinking. "…Give me the Time-turner, Sirius." He said, finally. He turned, watching Sirius immediately take it off, tugging it free of his hair. He'd ripped Sirius's shirt open, looking for it. He noticed Sirius had tattoos, which was so unlikely. Sirius held the Time-turner out to James, unquestioningly. James held it, still warm, in his palm.

.

"…James." Remus said, carefully. "I imagine you must want to use that very badly."

"We have to get Lily." Sirius said, glancing at Remus and then over at James's young blanched face.

"If Lily isn't there…" Remus said, so quiet, in the quiet little room. "Harry will die."

"No, Harry as well, obviously." Sirius said. "Like we took Teddy with us…"

.

James lifted his hand, gesturing for Sirius to be quiet. And Sirius closed his mouth, watching James sitting on the far side of the bed, all alone, thinking. "…Tell me what happens, Moony." James said, finally.

.

"Well…" Remus said, as gently as he could. "James. You died. But you slowed Voldemort down for long enough. Lily perform the Sacrificial Spell… Voldemort activated it when he killed her. When he performed Avada Kedvra on Harry, Lily's spell destroyed him."

"...It destroyed Voldemort?" James lifted his head finally. "Lily was right? Her spell ended the war?"

"Yes." Remus nodded. "It did."

.

"And the Muggle killing sprees ended? The Purifications? The Death Eaters were stopped?" Again Remus nodded. James pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "We won… But he'd made Horcruxes?" He continued. "So he came back."

.

"Peter resurrected him." Sirius said, finally. James looked over at him, thinking about it.

"I want to go back and get Lily and Harry." He said.

"I know." Sirius assured him. "You can." James nodded, but he didn't do anything. He looked at Remus, who didn't say anything. Presently he forced a smile.

"What do you want to do, James?" Remus asked.

.

"We could go back and try to kill Voldemort." James offered finally. Two of us, at least. We could ambush him because we know where he is."

"If we wanted to do that, we could go back further and kill him when he was a child." Remus said. "Killing him… Killing him isn't the problem."

"Of course it's not." James said. "It's what would happen if he wasn't there, that's the problem… Some other evil would rise up and fill the vacume. Maybe someone more powerful. A Pureblood. Someone taught magic from birth, not some scrap of a halfblood from a Muggle orphanage... The time was just ripe for it… I don't know what to do... _I don't know what to do_."

"Go and get Lily and Harry." Sirius said. "Fuck it. See what the world looks like afterwards, James. We'll do everything we can to sort it out, together."

.

"If Lily isn't there and her spell doesn't kill Voldemort…" James said, thoughtfully. "He won't die. He was winning, Sirius. He'll take over the world."

"So we go back further and kill him when he was a kid." Sirius concluded. "And then rescue Lily on the way back."

"She won't need rescuing… You Moron." James forced a smile. "She won't be there, in that house with me. Harry won't... Harry will probably never be born. Without the war Lily will probably marry Snivels. _Oh God_…

.

"But she'd be _alive._" He added, looking up at both of them, calm for a moment before tears soaked his cheeks and he covered his face.

.

"Prongs, we'll go back and get her." Sirius assured him, lunging over the bed and pulling James into his arms. "We'll go back and get her and Harry, and fuck everything else. Everyone will think they died so it won't matter."

"_It will fucking matter!_" James shoved him off. "_Harry didn't die! He will die it I take Lily and her spell won't kill Voldemort and hundreds of people will die! People with husbands and fathers who love them just as much as I… As I love my family._"

"Fuck them." Sirius said. "I'm sorry, James, but… This is you and your family. We'll go and get Lily and Harry. You go. Now."

.

James hid his head in his hands. "Talk to him now, Moony." He said, trying to dry his eyes.

"...It's not that black and white, Pads." Remus said.

"_It was that black and white when you got me._" Sirius assured him. "You were going to leave me in the past, _alive and well_, remember. Changing everything. You thought your son was going to disappear in a puff of smoke, but you still wanted me to hide in Grimmauld Place while Bellatrix blasted Harry through the veil instead of me!"

.

"You're a tosser, Moony." James assured him, drying his eyes. "You always were… So, Harry… Harry grows up…" He stifled another sob and tried again. "So. Harry grows up and he's fine?"

"He's more than fine. He's brilliant!" Sirius assured him. "He got sorted into Gryffindor. He's got a girlfriend; Molly Prewett's daughter. Voldemort made Horcruxes. A diary and some other stuff. Peter resurrected him and tried to kill Harry. But he failed. Epically and repeatedly failed. And Remus is in the future and Voldemort is still failing. And they've got most of the Horcruxes. Right?"

"...Yes." Remus said. "…Harry's alright. The… The Ministry has fallen. There are problems, but… Harry is alive and well... He's with his friends. And I think he knows what he's doing with the Horcruxes. There's a snake that's definitely one of them."

"Why aren't you with him?" James said. "Do don't both... Right." He ran his fingers through his hair again, thinking. "Can I do this?" He asked. Neither Sirius or Remus presumed to tell him either way. "Yes." James said. "_I can._ Let's go and deal with the snake, if you're sure that's one of the Horcruxes!"

.

Sirius and Remus looked at each other, silently. "...James, are you sure?" Remus asked him. "I mean..."

"Lily's sacrificial spell _saved our baby, ended the war and killed Voldemort_?" James clarified firmly. "Would I want her to go back through time to cock that all up if I'd managed to do something so brilliant? I wouldn't. I'm proud of her... She's braver than any of us." He held the Time-turner tightly for a moment longer, before slipping it round his neck and out of sight. "Let's go and..."

.

"_Remus!_" Dora's yell cut James off, ringing through the living room below them.

"You slept with my _cousin's daughter_." Sirius moaned. James smiled at him, greatfully.

"Shut up!" He said, thumping Sirius and hiding behind the door. "And cover yourself in that invisibility cloak, Pads."

"Why?" Sirius said. "Dora had better be glad to see me alive!" He let Remus shove the invisibility cloak at him and grumbling he slumped down on the floor behind the bed, draping it over his head. Remus picked Teddy up and carried him to the bedroom door.

.

"We're up here!" He called. "What's wrong?"

Footsteps pounded up the stairs and Dora, white as a sheet, flung herself at him. "Voldemort has launched an attack on Hogwarts!" She yelled at him. "Harry's there! They've destroyed another Horcrux! _This is it, Remus_!"

.

"Right. Take Teddy to your mothers." Remus thrust the baby into her arms. "I'll do everything I can."

"_Sod that! I'm a bloody Auror, Remus! __This is what I do_! It's my job. You're old and you're rubbish at killing anyone! Take…" His startled expression stalled her and she clutched the door, squashing James into the wall. "…Love." She said. "Please take Teddy to my mums for me."

"As your husband I am ordering you to go to your mums." Remus told her. "You're a mother, Dora."

"Yes, I am also an Auror, Remus." Tonks assured him. "Fine. I'll take him. I'll meet you there."

"…Please stay at your mothers!" Remus called after her.

"No!" Dora called back, and left with a slam of the door.


	7. Chapter 7

"Your wife is cool." James offered, patting Remus's arm as he stepped out from behind the door. "I like her."

"We have to go." Sirius said. "We have to go to Hogwarts, _right now_."

"Albus will _destroy_ Voldemort if he tries to get into Hogwarts." James pointed out.

.

"James, he hasn't done a very good job of keeping Harry safe at Hogwarts to date." Sirius told him, trying to urge James through the door. "…He employed a teacher possessed by Voldemort in Harry's first year, there was a Horcrux that opened the Chamber of Secrets in his second year…"  
"_The Chamber of Secrets actually exists_?" James interrupted him. "Was Harry alright? You said he's fine, right?"

"He's not fine." Remus said. "He's at Hogwarts right now."

"With Albus." James said.

"No, not with Albus!" Remus interrupted him. "…_Albus is dead_. Everyone is dead. _Come on_!"

.

.

"…_Albus is dead!_?" Sirius said, as they shot out of the fire place in the Headmasters empty office.

"Yes." Remus assured him, watching James shaking out the invisibility cloak. "_Snape_ is Headmaster, and he's loyal to Voldemort."

"Who would have guessed." James said, drily.

"It wasn't that obvious which side Snape was on." Remus told him.

"It was _that_ obvious!" Sirius said. "But only to me. Albus insisted we trust him. How did Albus die?" Remus smiled at him.

"How do you think, Sirius?" He asked. "Snape killed him. Here, in the school. You were right. _And_ he didn't come to warn you about Harry's vision, which is why _you_ died. I'm going to find him today, and I'm going to kill him."

.

"I think that honour really belongs to Sirius." James pointed out. "And your wife is right, Moony. You are not the best at killing people."

"I wasn't. But that was before I watched everyone I loved, murdered." Remus assured him.

.

"_Can we please just go and find Harry_!" Sirius interrupted. "_Please_, Remus! I'll be in your shadow the whole time. Make sure Harry's safe."

"_Thank you for being a good Godfather, Sirius_." James stammered. "Thank you for loving him… I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"You're here now." Sirius pointed out. "And Harry has loved you in his heart all along. Let's go!" And he vanished with a swirl of black cloth and fur into his bear like animagus dog.

.

"The Grim." James said. "No one will think twice if they see that stalking the corridors today." Brandishing his wand, he ducked under the invisibility cloak. "Lead on, Moony!" He suggested.

.

.

Animated statues marched purposefully past them. Really young children fled in every direction. They could hear fighting outside. Remus let Padfoot take the lead, following his nose up to the Room of Requirements, through which Remus found Kingsley and most of the Weasley clan. Dora thankfully was not with the other Order Members.

.

Dora was safe. Teddy was safe. James and Sirius were hidden in the corridor outside waiting for him. Rather shamefully, considering the circumstances, Remus could not remember the last time he had felt so happy. His son's birth, he supposed, and before that, he didn't like to consider.

.

Sirius, still in his animagus form, had slunk beneath the invisibility cloak, waiting at James's feet for Remus to get free of the Order Members. Remus saw the shoddy invisibility cloak flicker as Harry came skidding around the corner but both Sirius and James showed some, never before seen, self-control and remained hidden.

.

Remus stayed with Harry. The Weasleys were already starting a family row all around them. _Could their sixteen year old daughter join in the fighting? Did every one want to forgive Percy?_ Remus tried distraction, he suggested Ginny stay but safe in the Room of Requirements.

.

The Weasleys were a law unto themselves. Deciding that what looked like the final battle of the war was the best place to have a row, they all started shouting then hugging each other. Remus told Harry he would head down into the grounds, wished him luck, and re-joined the bounding black dog, and a James so young that everyone seemed to assume he was Harry himself.

.

.

"_I'm going to find Voldemort and kill him!_" James yelled, delighted.

"If we find him, _we kill him_." Sirius agreed, reappearing from his animagus form in a swirl of black robes and blacker hair, wand raised as they flung themselves out into the windy grounds.

"_Yes! And people will think my son did it_!" James added, joyously. "_Because he looks just like me!_"

.

"…And Bellatrix." Sirius added. "We have a bone to pick with her, don't we Moony?"

"_Yes, we do_!" Remus yelled back as a vast explosion rippled through the air, spraying them with rubble.

.

"_The Owlery!_" Sirius yelled. "_Why?!_"

"_Oh, the poor little birds!_" James agreed, laughing at him. "_Come and help me find Voldemort, Pads! I owe him! And Snape and Bella! Everyone who's ever screwed us over!_"

.

"_We might have to deal with those giants first!_" Sirius pointed out.

"_And don't die!_" Remus yelled at him. "_Either of you!_"

"_That was a one off random fluke!_" Sirius laughed. "_And you'd just bring us back, Moony!_"

.

With a roar of rage the nearest giant swung a massive tree trunk of a club at James's head. He ducked with a yell of laughter and a stream of violent hexes that ripped into the giant's colossal legs, causing them to explode, ignite and melt, bringing the giant crashing to the earth in front of them.

.

"_Yeah, no one is going to think you're Harry!_" Sirius told him. "_I forgot how fierce you are!_"

"_I did my Aurora training in the war! And Harry looks just like me!_" James yelled back, sending another gruesome curse into the giant's face. "_Everyone thinks I'm Harry!_"

"_Harry, if he was a psycho!_" Remus shouted across to him.

"_I love you too, Moony!_" James assured him. "_Where will Volde_…" He trailed off, listening, as a magnified voice echoed over the castle grounds.

.

_"...I know that you are preparing to fight._"

"_No, we've already started!_" James yelled enthusiastically, drowning the magnified voice out and causing a ripple of cheering and yelling from the people fighting in the grounds, who really did appear to think he was Harry.

"_I do not want to kill you_." The voice added.

"_But we want to kill you!_" James screamed, shooting hexes up into the faces of the giants, who roared in rage and drowned the voice out again.

.

"_Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded! You have until midnight._"

"_Nooo! He is so dead now!_" James yelled.

"_We have to kill him, James!_" Sirius told him, urgently. "_Stop messing around with the stupid giants!_"

.

"_Where do you think Voldemort is?_" James asked, jumping back over to them.

"Maybe we should go back to Harry?" Sirius said. "Yes?"

"I'll find Harry and show my face." Remus told him. "You try to find Voldemort. _And be careful_."

"We're always careful!" Sirius assured him. "Aren't we, James… _James!_"

"_Be careful!_" Remus shouted at them and sprinted back up to the school.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry was fine, the students of Slytherin House were being frog marched out of the school, and Kingsley was shouting orders to everyone.

.

Remus accepted a group of determined Ravenclaw sixth former's; children he'd taught Defense Against the Dark Arts to only three years before. They were still wearing their school uniforms. One of them had plaits in her hair. He couldn't remember her name or remember her ever having managed a single defensive spell. She was holding hands with a grey faced Michael Corner.

.

He followed Kingsley's orders, taking them out into the grounds, where the Weasleys, ahead of them, frantically tried to deal with an invasion of hundreds of dog-sized spiders. The giants towered over everything, and the night rippled with pain, fear and the screams of people experiencing pain they had never before imagined.

.

"What do we do, Professor?" Michael asked him. _Half these children are going to die_, Remus thought. He looked at the girl with the plaits. He still couldn't remember her name. He scanned the sea of fighting; monsters and masked Death Eaters encircling the castle on every side.

.

"Professor Lupin, I can't remember any spells." Someone else told him.

"I can." Michael offered.

"Great." Remus said. "Right. Let's start on those spiders then. It'll be just like that practical O.W.L. exam I gave you."

"I failed that." The girl with the plaits said.

"I know." Remus conceded. "So I want you to stay with Michael and…" He glanced at the surging Death Eaters, sure that Sirius and James were alone in the midsts of them. "...And stay behind me. All of you. Stay behind me. Come on! Let's warm up on those spiders!"

.

.

"_…I am so happy right now!_" Sirius shouted, ducking behind James's glowing protego shield spell. "_You're alive!_"

"_And we can't die!_" James shouted over the cacophony of hexes against the glowing shield. "_Because Moony will just bring us back to life!_"

"_And you're really alive!_" Sirius yelled. "_If Harry gets hurt, Moony can jump him back through time until we win!_"

"_We're going to win anyway!_" James assured him, bracing his wand arm with his left hand, trying to swing the massive glowing protego arc so he could knock green death curses back into the faces of the men firing them. "_This is like fighting children!_"

.

"_We should find Harry!_" Sirius told him. "_And make sure he's okay!_"

"_Seeing me would put him off!_" James yelled back. "_And they all think I'm Harry anyway! He's safe in the castle while they think I'm him out here!_"

"He's not very fierce!" Sirius shouted, dropping out from behind their shield and shooting some well-aimed curses of his own. "I think we need to get back to him!"

"Moony's with him!" James shouted back, losing the protego shield as a stunning spell glanced off its reverse and floored him. "_Can you look what you're doing! You're supposed to be watching my back!_"

"_Protego!_" Sirius cast. James shoved his glasses back up his nose and sent a string of twenty balls of fire popping out of his wand and rolling into Voldemort's army.

.

.

"_You have fought valiantly!_" The magnified voice exploded over the roar of the battle. "_Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldermort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured._

.

"_I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour._"

.

James lowered his wand. "_Back to the castle. Right now!_" Sirius yelled to him. "_Right now, James!_"

"_Moony won't let him go!_" James called back, lowering his voice as the din of the fighting was replaced with an eerie silence. Voldemort's army was falling back. Dawn light was seeping into the dark sky, illuminating trampled grass and slumped figures, carelessly dropped, trodden down, unmoving and unreal.

Struggling to get his invisibility cloak to stay around him, James hurried after Sirius, still in his human form, streaking back towards the castle wall. "…We find Harry and Moony!" Sirius shouted, anxiously. "And we all stay together!"

"Okay." James agreed. "…What if Harry hates me?" Sirius didn't pause, catching James's arm as it came in reach and making him run.

"James." He said. "Are you scared?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." James assured him. "Look, Sirius…" He yanked the cloak back around his shoulder. "…Look. I think I'll stay under the cloak. I'll be more useful for killing Voldemort if he doesn't realise I'm there. And if I kill Voldemort… Harry will be thrilled."

"Fine." Sirius assured him, frowning as he vanished in a flurry of black cloak and fur. The bear-sized dog stalled, tripping James, who cursed, flailing to catch himself.

.

"_Idiot!_" He snapped. "_Come on!_" Sirius reappeared, stationary. James caught his arm, yanking him along. "Are you tired because you're old?" He suggested, with a grin that Sirius didn't return. "Turn dog." James told him. "Sniff out Moony and Harry, we'll never find them like this!"

"…I am." Sirius stammered.

"No. You're clearly human." James told him. "Sirius. Pull it together, mate."

"Something is wrong." Sirius said. "_Something… is really wrong_."


	9. Chapter 9

"Wrong?" James asked but Sirius didn't say anything at all. Running around a battlefield had put some colour in his pale cheeks. Now it drained out of them so visibly that James was pretty sure he was going to faint. "…Sirius?" He reached out a supporting hand, but Sirius was gone, there was only the massive black hound, flying away from him across the field. "_Sirius!_" James yelled, glad there was a ceasefire as he chased after him across the muddy grass.

.

The castle doors were pulled open. The dead were being carried clumsily inside. People were crying. People were groaning in pain and calling out for other people who didn't answer. James was glad he didn't know any of them.

.

Adjusting his invisibility cloak he walked into the Great Hall, looking over the makeshift hospital, laid out on the dais where the teachers normally ate. There was a row of corpses that already stretched nearly the length of the hall. The Weasleys, so willing to let their children join the fight, were clustered at it's far end, on their knees, sobbing. The line stretched away from them, towards James's feet. Half the bodies were uncovered; some unrecognisable; some children that should have been evacuated. .

.

James watched a sobbing teenager, probably Harry's age, pulling off his school blazer to make a pillow for the head of a dead girl, a blanket for her from his robes. A wizard with curly hair was using torn curtains to cover up some of the bloodier corpses.

.

James made the effort to keep calm about it. He scanned the hall for Sirius; for Remus; for his teenage son. Cursing the lot of them he jumped up onto the dais and checked the injured before walking briskly along the line of the dead. He stopped at the line's end, shielded from the rest of the hall by the cluster of Weasleys.

.

James blinked, trying to think calmly, like an Aurora should… Like a calm-minded genius should. Remus, he noticed, had a lot of grey in his hair. He was also very dead. _Lily is dead_, James thought. _Lily is at home, dead. And I am not going home ever again_.

.

Remus was lying flat on his back. His eyes were closed. He didn't look upset or even injured. Someone had carefully placed his hand against his wife's. She had pink hair. It hadn't been pink when she'd rushed into Remus's bedroom and to tell him that Hogwarts was under attack. He supposed it changed colour, like their baby's hair did. The baby wasn't there, thank God. Padfoot was there. The black dog was as still as the corpse he was pressed against. But the baby was safe. _Like Harry. Harry was safe, because Lily had sacrificed herself. His wife was dead. But his baby was safe._

.

_Only Harry wasn't safe_. With a horrible lurching sensation in his stomach, James remembered. Because that was years ago and now James was _in_ the future. Lily had been dead and in the ground for nearly two decades. And Harry was grown up and about to die. And Remus was dead and Sirius was lying next to him pretending to be.

.

"_Get up, Sirius_!" He roared, kicking the dog's arse. "_Now! My son's in danger!_"

.

Sirius erupted out of the sunken dog, looking as wild and terrible as James had ever seen him, falling back onto his knees and dragging Remus's limp body up against him. "_Sirius, get up!_" James told him. "_He's dead! You're alive! Look around you! Hundreds of people are dead! Do you want more people to die? Do you want Harry to be one of them!?_"

.

"…_Sirius!_" He gave him a good slap, as hard as he could. "_Sirius! Pull it together for one hour! That's all Harry's got, and he needs us! He needs you!_"

.

"Oh! Thank God you're here!" Sirius exclaimed. "Where is the Time Turner, James? Get the Time Turner quickly please now."

"Oh… God, Yes... I can't believe I forgot about that." James said, hurriedly pulling it out. Sirius watched him, clutching his tatty robes, shaking.

.

James carried on moving the Time Turner in his hand, buying himself time to think. Sirius didn't notice at all.

.

"Sirius." He said, finally, calmly. "…We have to wait. If we go back now, the Time Turner will just act like a completely normally Time Turner. We'll go back twelve hours and then they'll tick away again slowly. We don't even know how Remus died and we probably won't be able to get near him, or save him without being seen. We don't know how his surviving and carrying on fighting will affect the outcome of the battle…

.

" We need to wait it out, Sirius. We need to wait at least forty eight hours. Then we can pull the pin out that stops you going back more than two days, nip back, get the chain around Remus's neck, put the pin back in the Time Turner, which will cancel the trip and jump us and him straight to safety."

.

James looked over Sirius's haggard face. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" He asked.

"Give me the Time Turner, James." Sirius said. James adjusted the invisibility cloak so they were both hidden.

"Sirius." He said. "_We will save Remus_. It's worth the risk. But we have to wait. Can you trust me?"

"…Yeah." Sirius said. "…Did Remus die because I brought you back?"

"No." James said. "No one knows I'm back yet, so nothing in the future should have altered."

"But... because we shouldn't have done it... Did he die because he saved me from dying?" Sirius stammered. "Because I should have died and I didn't."

"Sirius? Pull it together." James told him. "He would have died anyway. We have changed almost nothing. And it doesn't count as dead anyway, because we're going to sail back and grab him in forty eight hours, aren't we? _It doesn't count as dead, Sirius. Does it_?"

"No." Sirius said. _Unlike my wife_, James thought. He patted Sirius briskly on the arm.

"Man up." He said. "If that was you lying there, Moony would have held it together to finish the fight. I would. Even Peter would have. Come on. We have to find Harry."

.

"Harry." Sirius nodded. "…And kill Peter." And then he dropped back onto the floor, staring down at Remus's corpse in horror.

"_Now, Sirius!_" James ordered, yanking him back to his feet and hauling him away. "_The Forbidden Forest! Come on!_"


	10. Chapter 10

"…Bugger." James skidded to a stop. "_Sirius!_" He yelled. "_Padfoot!_" The black dog skidded around, racing back towards him, stumbling as he reformed as a man.

"_What?_" He demanded. "_Run faster! I can hear fighting!_"

.

"Sirius, I've changed my mind." James said, grabbing him. "If Harry dies or Voldemort wins, we can just go back with the Time Turner and change it. But if _we_ die… If we die, Sirius, it's all over. Moony stays dead. If Voldemort wins he stays won."

"_For God's sake!_" Sirius yelled at him. "_Listen! That is fighting ahead of us. Your son is in there! Alone!_"

"If we die, Sirius…" James tried again.

"_You're not God, James!_" Sirius told him. "_If we die, we die! We help Harry!_"

"No. We have to stay alive." James stated firmly. "Then we can just fix anything that doesn't happen the way we want it to."

"…Alright. _You_ do that." Sirius told him. "But we don't _both_ need sit it out and watch."

.

James snatched him back, before he could vanish into his animagus form. "Good point." He agreed. "But I'll be more use to Harry than you. You're old, Sirius, and you hardly managed to hold your own dueling against Peter or Bellatrix did you? I'm a trained Auror and his father." He pulled off the Time Turner and slipped it quickly over Sirius's head. "Meet me in The Shrieking Shack once the fighting is over." He said. "Bet you ten galleon's I don't get killed."

"…If you do, _I'll leave you dead_." Sirius told him. James laughed.

"That's the spirit!" He said, brightly, and bounded off into the trees.

.

Sirius watched until he was out of sight before vanishing into his animagus form and heading back down to the Shrieking Shack, to wait out the rest of the battle, keeping himself and the Time Turner safe.

.

James followed the noises through the trees, finding no fights that involved his teenage son. Eventually he found Voldemort himself, but there was no Harry. James waited. And Voldemort waited, guarded by his Death Eaters, and the snake that needed killing.

.

James pondered the merit of hitting Voldemort, in the face, with the killing curse, from beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Or taking the cloak off and pretending to be Harry, seeing as none of them probably knew what Harry did look like close up. But mostly he thought that he must let it play out and see what happened, confident that that way they could use the Time Turner to go back and sort it out.

.

It would probably be easier to sort out if he knew _exactly_ what happened anyway, he reasoned. He glanced around the dark woods, wondering if another future version of himself was hiding, watching him. But he couldn't see anything, and hoped that was because his son was a genius that was going to destroy Voldemort, first try. He was _his_ son, after all. It did slightly follow that he should be super human.

.

And then Harry appeared, a scrawny teenager, dirty and frightened, wandering through the trees alone. He did not look like he had any plan, other than to die. James decided to be cold-hearted and wait it out, memorising what happened to make sure that he could create a flawless plan for altering it in two days' time.

.

Interestingly Harry had on him the actual Resurrection Stone. Not the most useful of the three hallows, James was sure. But an interesting random thing to have. He watched Harry holding it out, wishing for his dead loved ones to appear to him. He was pretty certain that he and Sirius should be among them.

.

_Does the stone actually summon dead people from some other world where they now live?_ James pondered. _Or does it just recreate a perfect version of them using your memories?_ Interesting but unanswerable, he concluded. To be on the safe side James brandished his wand and created a couple of ghostly figures, first of himself and then of Sirius, who he accidentally made look vastly too young, more like Sirius from his own time than the skinny thirty something with bad hair. Harry was apparently too preoccupied with being about to die to notice. James stayed close beside him, hidden by the dim light and the invisibility cloak, making his ghostly puppets speak and trying to fathom who the fourth person Harry had conjured up actually was, pretty sure that it was Remus.

.

He watched Voldemort hit Harry with the killing curse, launching him backwards through the forest. He crept over under the invisibility cloak, to be near him and found Harry still breathing; he heard his whispered conversation with Sirius's cousin Cissy, and her announcement that Harry was dead. Heart pounding with excitement and utter pride, James followed the procession of stupid, triumphant, Death Eaters back to the castle; his wand ready beneath his invisibility cloak, to unleash hell the minute Harry made his move.

.

.

The Shrieking Shack was looking run down. Sirius, still in his animagus form, was asleep, nothing more than a big black furry dog. The golden Time Turner still slung around his neck. Lying not far from him, even paler than he'd been in life, Severus Snape lay in a pool of his own blood.

.

James removed his invisibility cloak and booted Sirius awake, watching him vanish in a flurry of fur, to return to his skinny pale thirty year old self. "Where's Moony?" He asked.

"Laid out in the school." James told him. "With loads of weepy teenage girls crying over him. Did you know he was a teacher? The 'best ever' apparently. Are you buying that?"

"What?" Sirius said. "We won, right? Harry's alive? Voldemort's dead. We've got one more day to wait, and then we go back, grab Moony and everything's alright?"

"That's about the size of it." James agreed. "And you killed Snape!"

.

"…No. I didn't." Sirius said, looking over at him. "He was already dead when I arrived."

"That's kind of weird." James said, poking him with the toe of his boot. "…Lily loved him, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Sirius said. "But he got her killed. He got you killed. He got me killed. He killed Albus… If I'd found him earlier, I'd have finished him off." James laughed.

"Speaking of Albus." He said. "I've just seen him."

"Alive?"

"No." James said. "He is dead but I had to go in his grave. Because, Sirius Black, I am The Master of Death. Look what I have!"

.

Thrusting a hand into his pocket, James produced the cracked black Resurrection Stone and the Elder Wand. "I have to get my proper Invisibility Cloak back." He pointed out. "But _what the hell_, Pads!? I have united the Deathly Hallows. I am the Master of Death!"  
.

"Where did you get those things from?" Sirius asked him, in alarm.

"Harry." James told him. "No idea where he got the Resurrection Stone from but he dropped it at my invisible feet, in the wood. That's practically giving it to me. Voldemort had the wand. Harry beat him and put it in Dumbledore's tomb. So I took it out again. What do you recon Albus did with my Invisibility Cloak?"

"Gave it to Harry." Sirius said. "James… _You've got the Deathly Hallows?_"

"I am the Master of Death!" James told him, triumphantly. "Death is my slave!"  
"_Don't say that._" Sirius told him. "Please, don't let's say stupid things like that until we've got Moony back."

"Fine." James said. "But he is, because I AM THE MASTER OF DEATH!"

.

Sirius sighed. "…It's my birth right." James told him cheerfully. "I am descended from the Peverells… And I am meant to be dead. I could bring Snape back to life, if I wanted to. But I don't, so I'm not going to!" He looked back at Sirius and grinned. "I am _in the future_ and _I am the most powerful wizard of all time!_ And I am the Master of Death, Sirius. I could have killed Voldemort, Sirius, but I thought I'd let my son have a pop at him first, because I'm like that. I've surpassed even my normal levels of greatness... What shall we do now, Sirius? What shall we do while we wait to resurrect Moony?"

.

.

**AN: It's Cannon(ish)! I have followed the book ending. I know in the film Severus doesn't die in the Shrieking Shack and Harry snaps the wand, but I wanted to keep it like the book.**

**I'd love it if you reviewed. Are the characters in character enough? Who do you think needs bring back to life? Any thoughts at all really.  
**


	11. Chapter 11

.

The Master of Death sat in Remus's front room, tapping the Elder Wand irritably on the worn fabric of the chairs arm. "I don't think I can sit around like this for long." He pointed out. "We should probably start tracking down rogue Death Eaters."

"No. We should stay here and do nothing until the forty eight hours is up." Sirius said. "Then we can track them down one by one."

"You got over your excitement at my return pretty quickly." James complained, aiming the wand at Sirius's head, idly. "I'm alive Pads! Look, you swapped me for Moony!"

"Shut up, James." Sirius warned him. "…What if it goes wrong? What if we can't get him back? Or if the Time Turner breaks?"

"It won't." James said. "I am the Master of Death, remember. Where do you think Harry is?"

"With the Weasleys." Sirius said, glancing at Remus's clock, the photos on his mantel piece, maybe of his wedding day, and a couple of his baby.

.

"How rude that he has no pictures of us." James said, zapping them with his wand. Sirius, who was lying on the hearth rug, lunged forward, catching one of the baby pictures. "…_Raparo!"_ James added, fixing them and then using a Locomotor charm to float them back up to their original position. "Christ, this is boring." He said. "I can't sit around, Sirius. I don't want to dwell on, you know… Lily."

"We'll do something." Sirius assured him, pulling himself back to his feet. "What shall we do?"

.

"_Diffindo!_" James said, slashing randomly at Sirius's hair, before casting some more sensible spells, changing his appearance. "I'm de-aging you." He explained, grinning at Sirius's face. "Master of Death, you see. I need you looking vaguely respectably. He aimed another spell at Sirius, transfiguring his clothes a couple of times, once to something Muggle-ish and then to some black Wizarding robes.

.

"Stop doing that." Sirius growled.

"You're old and boring." James said. "Why didn't Moony rescue pre-Azkaban you?"

"If that isn't obvious, I'm not going to tell you." Sirius told him. James laughed.

"Tell me!" He added, levelling the Elder Wand on Sirius's face. "Or I'll make you." He added. "With an Imperius Curse!"

"Why do you think?" Sirius said. James smiled at the effect of his de-aging charm on Sirius's scowl.

.

"Can you think of a spell that gives you a tan?" He asked. "You _look_ like you've been stuck in Azkaban for twelve years."

"I've been stuck in Grimmauld Place." Sirius said. "If Remus had gone right back, and got me from before Azkaban, the future me would have been destroyed, ceased to exist. He would have killed the current me."

"Ceasing to exist isn't death, besides, who says you'd cease to exist? When you go back in time there are two 'you's existing in the same time." James pointed out. "…_Twelve years in Azkaban though_, Pads. Don't you wish he had?"

"Well, it would have changed things." Sirius pointed out. "I wouldn't have given Grimmauld Place to the Order. I wouldn't have met Harry... It would have changed all sorts of things."

"Yeah. But _still_." James pointed out. "_Still_."

.

"…Maybe we should get Remus's baby for him." Sirius suggested, moving the subject away from Azkaban. "To make him feel better when he gets back."

"Interesting…" James mulled it over. "It would be something to do. He's with Andromeda, right?" He paced, thoughtfully. "…Does Andromeda know Harry?"

"I don't think so." Sirius said. "I'm a bit in the future as well, you know."

"Well, even if they've met, I can't see them being best buddies, so, I'll don the invisibility cloak, disapparate over there and see if I can't convince her to hand him over to 'Harry'."

"She might recognise you." Sirius pointed out. James laughed.

"No, she won't." He said. "She'll think, 'Harry looks just like his dad did seventeen years ago'. If she think about it at all. You wait here and guard the Time Turner like it's Moony's life!" He chuckled to himself, tugging on the shabby invisibility cloak and glancing in Remus's mirror. "…And once I've done this favour for you, I need you to do one for me."

.

Sirius paced Remus's living room, Time Turner around his neck, until James returned, hurrying into the house with the howling baby. "Look what I got for you!" He said, brightly.

"Has he cried the whole way?" Sirius asked, accepting the screaming bundle anxiously. "Was he alright with Andromeda?"

"She wasn't even there. She'd gone to arrange Dora's funeral… _And Remus's_. Baby was with a house elf, so I didn't feel too bad. I spoke to her in the fireplace. She thought I was Harry. Said I was his Godfather… And a hero."

.

"He is a hero." Sirius pointed out, pacing the room with the baby in his arms. "I really want to go and see him."  
"Great." James said. "So do I! Baby seems happier to be home, anyway. Unless he was just afraid of the Master of Death."

"Maybe Harry will make him feel better." Sirius suggested. "If he's his Godfather perhaps they've spent a lot of time together."

"Yeah… We're not actually going to _see_, Harry." James said, carefully. "There's a plan."

"Alright." Sirius agreed, studying the baby's colour-changing eyes. "…He's a properly beautiful baby." He added.

"Not as cute as Harry." James said. "My _baby_ Harry..." He sighed, trying hard not to think about it.

.

"…So we're going to go and see Harry." Sirius said. "He will be glad to see you, James. He'll be thrilled."

"Yes. But I want Moony back to explain it to him before we just show up." James pointed out. "Besides, I have… a small problem." He poked his glasses up his nose, with a thoughtful grin. "My wand." He said. "…What with Harry having put the Elder Wand into Dumbledore's tomb."

"Harry is its rightful owner."

"Yes. _And_ he's got my invisibility cloak. Although he definitely chucked the Resurrection Stone, and he clearly doesn't want the wand. And the cloak actually belongs to me… It's not really going to be an issue, is it?"

"I don't think it will be." Sirius told him. "Harry is great, James. You'll be so proud of him."

"Of course I will." James said, cheerfully. "I'm going to get some rest. You can look after the baby."


	12. Chapter 12

Voldemort was dead. They had won. Never had Harry imagined victory would feel so hollow. Lupin and Tonks were dead. Teddy an orphan. Awful Lavender Brown and tiny Colin Creevy, were dead. Harry had paid his respects and spoken hollow words of thanks over more than fifty graves, but nothing, nothing at all, came close to the horror of losing Fred. Fred was dead and nothing would ever make it right again.

.

He wandered around The Burrow in a weird state of disbelief. He didn't know what to do to help. Often he felt like an intruder on a grief so much greater than his own. He thought about his parents, who he had never known. He even thought about his owl, Hedwig, but he was sure he could not imagine what Fred's loss meant to Molly or to George; to Arthur; to his best friend and his girlfriend.

.

Mostly he thought about Sirius, who'd been dead for years. Years of war and trying to stay alive, when there hadn't been time to think about it. It was while thinking about it, about all the death, the price of the victory, the prospect of a lifetime of feeling like this, that Harry realised he was staring at an enormous black dog.

.

He jolted to his feet, spilling the mug of coffee he'd been nursing. The dog was sitting in the cornfield that edged The Burrows yard. It had silver eyes, it was massive. Although Harry had only ever seen Sirius's animagus form twice, he was sure it was just like this.

.

But Sirius was dead. He had not come for Harry, and Harry knew enough about death to know that it was only actual insanity making him rush towards a massive unknown dog. Maybe if was the real Grim, he considered wildly, as he skidded to a stop, meters from the dog's wide silver eyes.

.

"Expelliamus!" The word snapped his wand fiercely from his hand, sending it spinning into the corn. Harry leaped backwards, swinging full circle as he tried to see who had disarmed him.

.

The corn was high, the sun piercing, there seemed to be nothing to see but the black dog. But then, an invisibility cloak. Not one as good as his. In the piercing sunlight he could see the faintest shape of a human figure. Harry, rose uncertainly to his feet, squinting. He expected attack; not a sudden hand to appear and toss a wand quickly at his feet.

.

"Expelliamus!" Harry yelled, diving for it. The other wizard was even faster, same spell and this wand also swung from his grasp, leaving nothing but a shooting pain up his right arm.

.

It was only as the other wizard stooped to retrieve it that Harry realized what had happened. That was the Elder Wand, and the unknown wizard had just disarmed him, on purpose. Armed him as a contrived trick. to transfer ownership of the most dangerous weapon in existence. Why had Harry picked the wand up? Why had he not destroyed it when he'd had the chance? Harry staggered backwards in very genuine horror.

.

The black dog jumped up, rushing towards him. The cloaked figure lunged, snatching the dog's scruff. He was moving, Harry realised, to disapparate. Barely considering his actions, Harry dived forward and snatched hold of the dog's thick black fur. His body sucked in on itself and the darkness rush around him. But the fur was still gripped tightly in his hands and a moment later his feet slammed into a solid floor and he lurched backwards, catching snatched images of wallpaper and armchair, as he flung himself through a door and up a carpeted staircase, with the dog and the invisible wizard snatching for him.

.

Harry skidded into a bedroom, flinging the door closed and yanking an impressive metal bolt down. A brilliant blue flash expanded, melting the door into the wall. Harry, barely acknowledging it, scrambled around a bed, searching frantically for anything to defend himself with.

.

Explosions beat against the door, each repelled with a flash of blue. The room was designed to be safe. Finding nothing to defend himself with, Harry snatched up a heavy bronze trophy, engraved with the Ministry for Magic's logo, covered his face with his free hand and smashed it into the window.

.

Vibrations jarred up his arm. There was a yell and another explosion from behind the door. Harry hit the window again with another crash, cursing in frustration as the trophy bounced off some invisible shield.

.

And then there was another sound. A high screaming sound, that sent a strange tingle of alarm into the small of Harry's back. More explosions frantically hit the sealed doorway as Harry turned and walked back over to the bed, staring down at a tiny, frightened, baby.

.

Harry took a couple of steps backwards, and then he tried to pick the baby up. There was something about holding babies heads, but how he didn't know. He'd never held a baby before. It felt dangerously floppy and small and very very loud. But he carried it back to the door, holding it against his top.

.

"_I've got your baby!_" He yelled through the door. "_You'd better stop shooting spells at me now!_"


	13. Chapter 13

"Harry!?" Sirius's voice yelled through the door. "Harry! Open the door!"

.

If Harry could have he would have. Laying the baby at his feet he scrabbled frantically at the lock, but the door was melted into the wall and the bolt was fixed in place. The baby screeched, Sirius shouted through the door and Harry attacked it, wildly, trying to get to him.

.

But the door held and the baby's screams hurt his ears, and Harry stopped fighting the door and picked the baby back up. A little black and yellow stripy hat had been thrashed loose off its red head and Harry saw it had fronds of light brown hair and bright golden eyes. It was wearing a Babygro, black and yellow stripy like a bumblebee and it felt very hot.

.

"I'm holding the baby!" He called through the door. He carried the baby across the bedroom and back again, resting it against his chest. It stopped crying, sucking its fist. As Harry paced, his mind rocketed about. He was sure that had he been able to, he would have opened the door when he'd heard Sirius's voice.

.

But Sirius was dead; long dead. Maybe, his brain considered, he survived somehow. But was that really more likely than someone using Polyjuice or that being an Inferi. Although Polyjuice didn't make your voice change and Harry had always imagined Inferi were like zombies. The waterlogged ones in the cave he'd found the horcrux locket in hadn't looked like they could chat. But surely it was more likely that a wizard was somehow pretending to be Sirius, than it actually being Sirius. Harry wondered if the wizard on the other side of the door actually looked like Sirius or just sounded like him.

.

"…Don't hurt the baby." Another voice said.

"He won't _hurt the baby_." Harry heard the voice that sounded like Sirius.

"…Yeah, well, I'm just saying." The other voice said. "You know… That would be awfully hard to explain."

.

The baby had closed its eyes so Harry pulled back the blankets and tucked it into the bed. It looked tiny, with its head sunk into the big fluffy pillow and the duvet all flumped on top of it, up to its chin. Its eyes stayed closed.

.

"…Baby's asleep." Harry called through the door.

"Put it down flat." The other voice said. "Feet against the foot of the crib. No pillow or heavy blankets."

"Err…" Harry peered over at the bed, feeling a weird urge to laugh. "It's asleep. I don't want to touch it in case it wakes up and starts screaming again."  
"He." The Sirius voice said. "It's Teddy Lupin. Your Godson."

"My what? It's who?!" Harry darted back over to the bed, peering at the brown haired baby. He ran back to the door.

.

"Who are you!?" He demanded. "Who are you really?!"

"It's a long story." The voice that sounded like Sirius said. "But there was a Time-turner. Remus saved me."

.

Harry checked his memory to be sure he _still_ remembered Sirius falling through the veil.

"…No he didn't." Harry said. "You're dead."

"We're both alive." The other voice said. It wasn't Remus.

"If you're really Sirius, why did you make me pick up the Elder wand, just to disarm me?"

"That wasn't me." The Sirius voice said, at once. The other voice sighed.

"…To transfer ownership." The other voice said. "Just to be on certain."

"I know that's _what_ you were doing!" Harry called back. "Why did you think it was an okay thing to do?!"

"I didn't." Sirius said. "I distinctly said that it was a very bad idea…"

.

The voices hissed crossly at each other. Harry pressed his ear against the door but he could only hear indistinct whispers.

.

"…So." The Sirius voice cleared it's throat. "Yes. That was sort of my idea. Because… Oh, come on, why _would_ that be my idea?!"  
"Because!" The other voice hissed. "Harry…? So that was both our ideas, because the Elder wand, that is like an awful lot of responsibility to put on your young shoulders… Nice work killing Voldemort though."

.

"Sirius." Harry said, finally. "If that's really you, tell me what present you gave me, when I spent Christmas with you at Grimmauld Place, when I was fifteen."

"It was books." The voice that sounded like Sirius said at once. "It was a set of books; Practical Defensive Magic and its use against the Dark Arts."

"_Oh my God!_" The other voice exploded. "That is the _lamest_ Christmas present ever! What sort of a rubbish Godfather are you? You are so _old and lame_!"

"I got him a Firebolt for Christmas when he was thirteen." Sirius defended himself. _Actual Sirius_ defended himself, because who but actual Sirius would know that?

.

"_How do you know that?!_" Harry screeched through the door. "_How do you know about the books! Sirius! Sirius, is that really you!?_" He was banging frantically on the weird magical door and the baby started to cry again, and Sirius was shouting through to him and Harry was too excited to think what he was saying.

.

And _still_ the door wouldn't open. "Sirius, I can't get the door open!" Harry said as loud as he dared, while the baby was quiet.

"I'll try and destroy it with the Elder wand." The other voice said. "You take the baby and hide in the corner."

"_Really?"_ Sirius's voice said. There was a silence.

"…Maybe not." The other voice said. "But you are lame, Sirius." It added. "You gave Harry _school books_ for his fifteenth Christmas present."

"I liked them." Harry said, listening through the door. "I've still got them."

"You're both lame." The other voice said. It sounded amused. "What have you done to him, Sirius? _It's Moony, isn't it?!"_ The voice exclaimed suddenly. "_Moony_ has made you think it's okay to give _books_ as presents, hasn't he!"

.

"Who is that with you!?" Harry asked. "…Sirius? Who's that with you?"

"Try and open the door, Harry." The other voice said. "Use your brain, yes?"

"Is this Remus's house?" Harry asked, looking for a photo or something, although baby Teddy, sleeping in the bed, was pretty conclusive. "…This is Remus's house." He added, getting up and picking up a framed picture of Remus at school. "…I've found a picture of you, Sirius." He added. "When you were at school."

"In Remus's bedroom!" The other voice asked, laughing. Harry frowned at the door.

"Sirius." He said. "I've found a picture of you with Remus and my Dad, when you were at school. Sirius, do you think Remus charmed this door so it would stay locked when he transformed into a werewolf?"

"Yes. I'm worried it's on a timer." Sirius admitted. "Or it might be waiting for dawn."  
"It's not even dark yet." Harry said, in alarm. "And Teddy will need to be fed milk won't he?"

.

"Okay." The other voice said. "I am going to slide a wand under the door. You tap the door and say the things I tell you, okay?"

"Okay." Harry said, picking the wand up as it appeared. It was not the Elder wand. It was _his_ own wand, that the other invisible wizard had taken in the cornfield by The Burrow.

"Tap the door." The wizard told him again. "And say 'Mischief Managed'." Harry gave the door a look, but he did as instructed.

.

"…Anything?" Sirius asked.

"Try 'I solemnly swear…'"

"…That I am up to no good?" Harry asked. He tapped the door again, but neither of the maps commands did anything.

"Try Messr Moony commands you to unlock." The wizard suggested. Harry put the tip of his wand back to the door and tapped.

"Nymphadora?" He said.

"…Is such a bad name." The other wizard chuckled.

"That is one of my friends who died fighting against Voldemort." Harry said, very calmly.

"Sorry, Harry." The other voice said at once.

"…Tonks." Harry said and tapped the door again. "…Teddy Lupin."

.

The bolt flashed blue, the seal sucked itself away from the frame and the door swung open. Harry stepped back, wand poised ready to defend himself, as Sirius flung himself at Harry, howling his name in delight.

.

It was Sirius. And he was alive. Harry grabbed him so hard he probably knocked the breath out of him. "You're alive!" He yelled.

"And so am I!" The other wizard said. Harry laughed, holding Sirius's shoulders, nearly as tall as him now, staring at Sirius's shorter hair and his sparkling eyes.

"…You're like… _Young again!_" Harry added.

"That was just a stupid spell." Sirius assured him. "It'll wear off… You beat Voldemort, Harry!"

"And Remus brought you back to life!" Harry said, still clutching him in disbelief.

"_And me_." The other wizard said. "And strictly speaking he prevented our deaths with time travel."

"Right…" Harry said. He looked round at him and back at Sirius's broad grin.

.

And then Harry dropped his wand. He stumbled backwards, bumping the wall and nearly falling into the bedroom. "…_Dad_?" He whispered.


	14. Chapter 14

"Dad?!" Harry staggered backwards, snatching Sirius for dear life.

"Yes. It is. You look very grown up." James said, as calmly as he could manage. "Try not to drop your wand, yes?"

"…Dad?" Harry said. "…James?"

"'Dad' was fine." James said. A hand fluttered nervously through his hair and he grinned again. "You look just like me. You're not taller are you?"

"I've got my mother's eyes." Harry stammered.

"I do know that." James assured him. "You look _just _like me. Doesn't he?"

"Yes." Sirius agreed. He let go of Harry to hug James as well. "This is brilliant!" He said. Harry stared wildly round at him. He had never seen Sirius look so happy. Sirius was alive. He looked young and handsome and so happy, like in James and Lily's wedding picture… He stared back at James, and back at Sirius, and still he couldn't believe it.

.

They were still standing on the landing staring at each other when Teddy started to cry, _again_. "…He's really upset." Sirius said, sweeping past them into the room. "He's missing them terribly."

"No. That is a hungry cry." James said. "Noo, Harry!" He added, grimacing. "Babies can't have pillows!"

"You wouldn't like to sleep without a pillow, Prongs." Sirius pointed out, scooping the baby up into his arms.

"And you wouldn't like to harm Moony's baby while he's not here, would you?" James pointed out. "He needs a bottle. _Accio milk!_"

.

"Sirius?" Harry said, nervously. "James? Do you know… Remus died, during the fighting."

"Don't worry. We do know." James assured him. "Don't look so worried. We're going to bring him back."

"Like he brought you back?" Harry ventured, trying to suspend disbelief.

"Strictly speaking Sirius brought me back." James told him. "But yup. Obviously, you're not meant to mess with time and the likes, but hey… It's Moony."

"How can you…" Harry said, staring at his father, at _James Potter_, who had just flicked a baby's bottle across the room with the Elder Wand. And Sirius, who was alive, slouched on the bed, looking all young and happy, feeding the little baby. "Is that possible?" He asked.

.

"It certainly is." James said, brightly. He produced the Time-turner from beneath his shirt. "This." He explained. "Is a Time-turner, which we have adapted. I will need you to return my invisibility cloak to me. Then I will don it and vanish back to the midst of the Battle at Hogwarts. I will sling the golden chain around Remus's neck and simply poke this tiny golden pin into place and _bang_ the mission will be aborted and I will be returned here, dragging Moony back with me."

.

"And that'll work?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it will." James assured him. "And then we'll be here, with you, in the future."

"That's amazing." Harry said. "Are you sure it will work?"

"It has to work." Sirius said, lifting uneasy grey eyes to glance through his silky black hair at them.

"Of course it will work. We're here, aren't we?" James pointed out. "So… My invisibility cloak, Harry."

.

"…Is my invisibility cloak the third Deathly Hallow?" Harry asked. James grinned at him, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"_My_ invisibility cloak." He pointed out. "Which I need to rescue Remus with. And yes, it is. We are descended from Ignotus Peverell. When I _actually_ die it will belong to you, my son. But currently, as you can see, I am not so dead."

.

Harry nodded. He looked over at Sirius, feeding Teddy on the bed, and back at James who looked like so like him and yet so unlike him, and for some reason all he could think about was that horrible memory of Snape's that he had seen in the pensive, when James had held him suspended in the air, taunting him for his friends amusement.

.

"I haven't got it with me." Harry said. James smiled at him.

"No matter." He said. "You can go and get it. You can have this invisibility cloak as well." He added, gesturing to the landing. "So we can be invisible together. _I can't believe I am actually in the future._"

"And alive." Sirius added.

"Speaking of alive." James said. "Let's use the Resurrection Stone to call up Moony, while he's dead. That would be so interesting."

"I don't want to." Sirius said, with a shudder. "And it would be distressing for Teddy."

"Well, I wouldn't want to distress _anyone_, Sirius." James laughed. "Although I think it would be reassuring for Teddy."

"It wouldn't." Sirius said. "And it will be dark soon and we'll be able to use the Time-turner to get him back, alive."

"I'll go back around midnight." James said. "You could use the Resurection Stone to summon Moony's spirit while I go. It would be interesting to see what happened, in the exact moment when I rescued him from the past."

"No, it wouldn't." Sirius growled.

"It would." James assured him, dropping onto the bed. "He might explode or something." Sirius lifted his very silver eyes to study James darkly, until James burst out laughing.

"Old and boring!" He said. Harry stared and stared between them.

.

"…You look really young." Harry stammered. James looked up at him, but Harry was staring not at him but at Sirius. James sighed.

"It's a spell." He said. "You won't have done it at school. Hold still, Pads, I wouldn't want to hit the baby by mistake." He flicked the Elder Wand at him again, changing Sirius's appearance almost imperceptibly. Harry noticed Sirius's hands move uneasily to cover more of the milky baby, dozing against his chest. James much have noticed as well, because he laughed.

"Wouldn't want to de-age Moony's baby by twelve months would we." He said. "That _would_ take some explaining."

"Stop doing it." Sirius told him.

"It's important that I become used to the wand." James told him. "It feels madly powerful. I need to practice with it. And you looked a state, Sirius. Don't you feel more like yourself now? _Accio Mirror_!" He levitated it across to Sirius, who glanced at his reflection for a moment before putting the mirror on the bedside table.

.

"So…" James said. "Do you think you'll be able to get my invisibility cloak?"

"…Yes." Harry said. "You don't think… You want to unite the Deathly Hallows, do you? I mean… We don't need to, now. Voldemort is defeated, so… The Elder Wand… It's not a good thing." James smiled at him, amused.

"I need the cloak to rescue Remus." He said. "And rather sadly, I think it is the only thing I own in the whole wide world."

"I'll get it." Harry told him. "Actually everything that I own is in one bag. I've been traveling round for months."

"And Sirius has nothing but his pretty face." James pointed out, aiming the wand at him again.

"_Really, don't_." Sirius growled. "I have a baby on my lap. You de-age him and…"

"Eew! That would be gross!" James laughed.

"…And you could kill him." Sirius finished, calmly. He looked at the clock, sliding the baby onto the bed and standing up. "Why don't I go with Harry, to get the cloak?"

"Because people would wonder where he got a massive black dog from." James pointed out.

"To be honest, I don't think they would." Harry told him. "They've lost… One of their twin sons… I'll disapparate and get the cloak. Shall I bring it back here?"

"Definitely." James nodded. "And I'll think of something fun to do, while we wait."


	15. Chapter 15

"Things to do while waiting to resurrect Moony from the Dead… Compiled by The Master of Death and The Grim… Number one; locate Moony's body and try to prevent people seeing it. Number two; draw a lightning bolt scar and round glasses on said body and see if artwork is still there when said body is resurrected alive…"

"I'm really glad you're back…" Sirius interrupted him. "And this is a weird thing to say, James, because I have felt like I didn't get much opportunity to mature, trapped in a cell in Azkaban, _but_, and this is a big 'but'… _Grow up_!"

.

James laughed. "Sirius, there are First Years at Hogwarts more mature than you are." He pointed out. "I…" He sighed, putting the parchment down. "…You don't understand." He said. "I am vastly more grown up than you are, Sirius. I'm a married man. I have a family. When I feel a bit better I am going to ask you to sit down and tell me all about Harry growing up and what has happened in the last seventeen years but… _Not yet_.

.

"Now help me with this list, or better yet, consider this…

.

"We've both seen Moony's corpse. So have all those teary students who were moping over him even worse than you were. So, when I go back and get him, _what will happen_? Will our memories change so that we never saw the body? Because if I rescue him, he won't be there to die. What will happen to the past, Sirius?

.

"Your body _did_ just vanish, so that wasn't a problem. And mine was supposedly burnt to a crisp on my Living-room floor… I love how you wince when I say that; _I_ _burnt to a little charred crisp on my almost brand knew shag-pile carpet_. So, neither of us left dead bodies, Sirius. But Remus _did_. What will happened to our memories?

.

"If I go back and steal Moony before he died, there will be no dead body for you to cry all over. When we can't find him amongst the dead, how will we know to do this; to go back and get his body in the first place?"

.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked. "It will just change. You're going to go back and get him. The same way I got you. How he got me."

"But that didn't change anything!" James pointed out. "You fell at a death-curtain, Sirius, but it wasn't just your soul that floated away. Moony took your whole body away into the future. In Godrick's Holllow somebody probably said, "Isn't it a bit weird that James didn't leave a nice charred skeleton, maybe Voldemort transfigured his corpse into a bit of fluff."

"Maybe he did." Sirius said. "Originally."

"I love how stupid you are." James assured him. "It is _actually_ like talking to a dog. _There is no originally_, Sirius. There is only_ what happened, how it happened_. Remus _thought_ you fell through a curtain-of-doom, so he came back and jumped you into the future. But you only ever vanished in the first place _because_ his future-self took you away. Because, and try to grasp this basic principle, _you can't actually change the past_."

.

"What do you mean?" Sirius said, looking over at him uneasily. James smiled.

"I mean. You _know_ I don't go back and save Remus, because you have _seen his dead body_. No one ever saw your dead body, Sirius, because it was never there to see, because Moony took you into the future. No one ever saw my dead body, because you took me into the future. _No one saved Moony_. If they had, we would actually already know about it. Wouldn't we?"

.

James sighed, tapping a long finger irritably on Dora's dressing table. His reflection watched him, looking tired and more angular than his sons. He was handsomer than Harry, he was pretty certain. Harry looked a bit sweet. He glanced over at Sirius, who looked _very_ sweet, and _alarmed_. He was holding Remus's baby very carefully, a rosy face nuzzled into his pale neck.

.

"Now, my oh so mature friend…" James broke the silence finally. "Can you honestly tell me that you feel better thinking about these complex things with me, than when we were compiling my amusing list?"

.

"You think we can't get Remus back?" Sirius asked him. "Because… If we were going to, we would never have seen his body? …_You think he's actually dead_."

"I know he's actually dead, Sirius." James assured him. "What you and Moony did was interesting, but it had clearly already happened. If I actually manage to pull Remus out of the battle, everything will change. Our memories will have to change, surely? I'm not saying I won't try. I'm saying I will actually have to change what has already happened. I'm guessing Remus was hit with the killing curse. When he's not there, who will that curse hit? Will it bounce off the wall, or will it strike someone else, and what effect will their absence have on the rest of the battle?

.

"Say Molly, for example, is fighting back to back with Moony. I move him out of the way, the curse goes bang into the back of Molly's head. How will that effect the rest of all those Weasley children's lives? For that matter, who might Molly have killed in the battle? A Death Eater who might then get to live, maybe one that knows Cissy's well enough not to believe her claim that Harry is dead and go and check for themselves and then… You know, Pads… I'm, just saying, it's massive what I'm doing. I am going to alter _everything_."


	16. Chapter 16

It was dark when Harry left The Burrow, his invisibility cloak safe in his rucksack. He had told no one about Sirius and James being alive. Ron had been with George, talking in dull stumbling voices that threatened to return to sobs. Ginny wasn't much better and Hermione… He had considered telling Hermione, but he was sure she'd think he was insane. When he tried to picture the conversation in his head, he had sounded insane.

.

Harry hurried down Muggle streets, lit bright as day by a ghostly full moon. It was still warm and the food Molly had pushed on him sat rather heavily in his stomach. He tried to convince himself that he was not insane. Even in the right street it took him half an hour to work out which house he was meant to be going to. He used his trusty Holly wand to release the lock and slipped inside.

.

"_Sirius_?" He called, nervously. His mouth toyed with 'dad'. "…_James_?" Maybe they weren't here. Maybe the stress of the battle and everything _had _made him mad. Or maybe James had already left, without the invisibility cloak to keep him safe and hidden, while Harry had been letting Molly try to mother him, in some awful parody of her normal self.

.

"Baby's asleep." Sirius appeared at the top of the stairs. James, or Sirius himself, had changed Teddy into a clean babygro and he was, once again, flopped asleep on Sirius's shoulder.

"Bet your arm's aching." Harry said, hurrying up to be with him.

"He loves it." James said, appearing as well. "Did you get my cloak?" Harry took it out of the bag and handed it over, watching James shaking it out, examining it carefully.

.

"_Now_, I am the Master of Death." James concluded, pleased. He went back into the bedroom, getting out the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, and putting them carefully together. "And now, Sirius, Harry, I will go and get Remus. I will be back, immediately, try to both still be in existence when I return."

.

"James!" Sirius laid Teddy down on the bed and pulled him into his arms. "Be really careful, won't you?"

"I'll be back the moment I go." James assured him. "With Moony!"

"Be careful." Harry said as well. James smiled at him.

"I am about to _make_ history." He said. "Literally."

.

Donning the invisibility cloak he pocketed the wand and after a moment's hesitation chucked the Resurrection Stone to Sirius. "Just in case." He said, with a wink, and twisted the Time-turner just past the sixth turn. "And away I go."

.

But James didn't go anywhere, instead Remus appeared next to him, the gold chain tying them together. "Remus!" Sirius exclaimed, leaping forward, but Remus didn't seem to hear or to see him. Remus_ screamed!_ He screamed and his knees buckled as he keeled over.

.

"_Remus_!" Sirius howled, throwing James clear as he unlooped the thin golden chain. "_Remus_!"

.

"I got him in time!" James yelled, trying to get near, as Remus screamed again, convulsing. "He's not hit! It's the time travel! Something wrong with time itself!"

"No!" Harry yelled over him. "It's not! It's a full moon!"

.

But there was no need to say. The fully risen moon caused a transformation so violent that a spray of blood misted like warm rain over them, skin ripping as any trace of humanity vanished from Remus's convulsing body.

.

"_Go_!" James ordered, thrusting Harry at the door. Sirius shoved back past them, diving through the room to scoop Teddy up into his arms, scrambling around the rising werewolf as it lurched forward, and stumbling out onto the landing as James slammed a spell at the door. The bolt crashed down, James and the wolf sealed inside.

.

"_Sirius_!" Harry yelled; his own wand aimed at the door, with no idea what to do.

"It's okay." Sirius murmured soothingly to Teddy, as the door trembled with a blue flash, and an inhuman fit of snarls and growls, was followed by scuffles and bangs. Harry listened for a spell, or a living human voice, but there was nothing. "…Harry, James will be fine." He added, stopping pacing as the baby quietened. "He'll be fine."

"I can't hear him!" Harry said, trying to sound less frantic than he felt.

"He'll be fine." Sirius said again, sitting down against the door, with the baby propped up against his knees. "Won't he, Baby Sirius… Teddy." He corrected himself. "It'll be fine."

.

"…Will he have turned into a stag?" Harry asked.

"Let's hope so." Sirius said, smiling at the baby as it's wide eyes readjusted to mirror his own silvery grey. "It'll be fine… And if it isn't, we'll go back and make it right… So, it _will_ be fine."

"Right." Harry said.

.

The werewolf crashed angrily into the door behind them again, but only Harry flinched. Sirius gave his hand to the baby, watching it curl its tiny fist around his finger, pulling it up to his mouth, to suck on. "…You've got blood on your face." Harry said, rubbing his own cheeks with his clammy palms. "…Did he change very fast? Because the moon was suddenly full and right up." Sirius nodded, eyes focused on the baby. He didn't really look any older than Harry, any more.

.

Harry wanted to ask him if Remus was going to be alright, but he was pretty certain that Sirius didn't know what happened to werewolves who got time-traveled slap-bang into the middle of the night of the full moon. Nobody knew. He wanted to ask if Sirius thought James would have managed to keep the Time-turner safe, but it was obvious that Sirius didn't know what was happening behind the locked door any more than he did. So Harry sat down next to Sirius, resting against the door and looking at Teddy sucking Sirius's fingers.

.

He woke at dawn, slumping as Sirius moved away from him. He was cold and achy, and he blinked at the unfamiliar landing before pulling himself to feet. Sirius was already pushing Teddy on him, asking Harry to give him a bottle of milk.

"Right… From the fridge?" He hovered uncertainly before taking the hot sleepy baby into his arms, where it clenched up in horror and started to scream, angrily. Harry watched Sirius knocking on the door for a moment, beforing carrying the screaming bundle down to the kitchen.

.

The door was open when Harry returned; the room unrecognisable. Everything covered in torn up fluff from the destroyed mattress… _and blood_. James, Elder Wand out, was casting spells to return the torn curtains to the windows and the tears to unblemished weave; moving on to repair the smashed bedframe, and the thick gouges in the walls while Sirius, on his knees, held Remus, limp against him, pulling thick splinters of wood out of his torn shoulder. Remus didn't flinch, oblivious, but Harry knew he wasn't dead. He had seen enough dead people now, to know.

.

"I put Teddy in a bouncy chair." He said, quietly. "Can I help?"

"Get Dittany." Sirius said, quietly. "Essence of Dittany. It'll be in the bathroom."

"_Accio Dittany_!" James said, before Harry could. He passed it to Sirius, watching him dabbing it carefully over the ripped skin and the bloody hollows where Remus's fingernails had been. Harry pulled his eyes away, lifting his Holly wand and casting 'raparo' on the bedside cabinet.

.

"The Potter Cleaning Service." James broke the silence, zapping a pile of books and sending them springing up onto the shelves Harry had just straightened. "Potter and son, second to none… How is he, Pads?"

"Not good." Sirius said, somberly. He had finished with the Dittany now and was only holding Remus away from the debris on the floor, running his hand uneasily through Remus's sweat soaked hair.

.

"Want to try some spells?" James asked. "Think I can remember a few that might help."

"If you're sure." Sirius said. James gave him dark look.

"Master of Death." He reminded him. "Elder Wand. I'll try to bring him round."


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Firstly, Happy Christmas! :D Secondly, sorry about the re-publish of this chapter, I had to go over it again to make sure it made sense. Please review, I'd love some feedback on this one. I have the next chapter ready to go but will try to resist publishing it till tomorrow ;) Happy Boxing Day...**

Remus groaned, roused back to consciousness to appreciate the pain of the transformation. "Stop now." Sirius warned, pushing the wand away, listening to Remus's incoherent whines, teeth grinding raspingly together.

.

"It'll be fine, Moony." He said, quietly. "It'll be fine."

"Rest." James pointed out. "That's the best thing for it… He didn't die, Pads."

"You got him back." Harry added. "You rescued him."

"Yes, I did." James said. "And interestingly I do still remember seeing his dead body. What on Earth does that mean? …Pad's, mate, let's get him on the bed, yes?"

"No. Too soon." Sirius said, eyes never leaving Remus's blanched face as a hand fumbled for the recently made bed, tugging the blankets free to wrap around him.

.

"Remus?" He said, quietly. "Moony? You're alright. You're alive again… I'm alive again. So, everything is alright. You just need to rest…" But Remus said nothing at all, and Harry thought it was for the best, when he clearly drifted back into unconsciousness.

.

Teddy was not happy with James and Harry. James was a dad, Harry's dad to be precise, so Harry thought he ought to be rather better with babies than say Sirius, for example. But James didn't seem very competent with Teddy. The baby screamed angrily at him, pulling its legs up to its tummy as if it had cried enough to male its whole body hurt.

.

James tried to push another bottle on him; he put Teddy in his chair and bounced him. He cast spells to create puffs of coloured smoke, bubbles and music, but Teddy cried until even Harry felt like joining in yelling.

.

"Sirius." James said, crossly. "I've been up all night being attacked by a werewolf, stop this baby crying. There are perfectly good pillows that can do what you're doing."

"You know how to look after a baby for five minutes, James." Sirius told him, still on the floor where they'd left him hours before, still letting Remus sleep oblivious against him.

"I am exhausted, and rather bruised." James told him. "I'm sure Moony will be thrilled to find you alive and here, when he wakes up, but that isn't going to be any time soon."

.

"Teddy will go to sleep in a minute." Sirius pointed out, from the floor. "He just doesn't know any of us yet."

"But he slept in your arms, all night." Harry pointed out, also quite sick of trying to appease a screaming baby that clearly hated them. "He _does_ like you, Sirius."

.

"What sort of an idiot are you!?" James demanded, pulling the offered baby back. "_You slept with someone else's baby shoved under your arm, like a bloody teddy bear!?_"

"No. On my chest." Sirius said. "And I wasn't sleeping, he was. I was awake all night too, James."

"Well you _chose_ to be awake." James told him. "I had to be. Take the baby for a walk or something."

"I'll… I can do that." Harry suggested. "Can I?"

"Yes. Good idea, Harry." Sirius said. "Get some sleep, James." James sighed at him, before nodding and lying down on the bed. Sirius turned his attention back to Remus, who seemed to be sleeping slightly more peacefully now. So Harry took Teddy out, all on his own.

.

The sun was shining. Teddy slept in his pram and Harry sat in the park, reading The Prophet, which a very excited young Witch had given him, when she'd spotted him and come over to thank him for saving the World. The Prophet was also mostly about him saving the World. This was, he thought, how it was meant to be. Him defeating Voldemort; being a hero. It was terrible being at The Burrow. Harry wondered, just dared a tiny bit to wonder… If James and Sirius could bring Remus back, couldn't they bring Fred back too?

.

.

They were all asleep, _The Marauders..._ Minus Peter, of course... James, his_ father_, was lying stretched out on the bed. Harry wondered if he looked that tall and lanky, himself. Everyone said he looked like James, but Harry always felt rather malnourished and skinny. James looked big and healthy. Harry couldn't help thinking that he might look more like that if he hadn't spent so much of his childhood locked in a cupboard under his aunt and uncle's staircase, or living in a tent for the last year.

.

His godfather was still on the carpet, resting against the foot of the bed. Sirius had an arm slung around Lupin, a cloth limply slid away from the cut on his bare shoulder.

.

Harry crept back down the stairs and made them some bacon and eggs, and some mugs of tea. He didn't know if James liked tea, but he guessed he did, because Sirius and Remus did, and coffee always reminded him of his aunt and uncle.

.

.

"_I have the best son ever_!" James said, pushing a hand through his sleep mussed hair until it was wilder than ever. "How do you know how to cook?!" He demanded, seeming inordinately impressed with this simple feat.

"How is Remus?" Harry asked.

"He'll be alright." Sirius pushed Remus away so he could get his hands free to stretch and yawn. "And you don't want to know how he got that good at cooking, Prongs. Thanks, Harry."

"How?" James asked, at once.

"I used to cook breakfast for my aunt, uncle and cousin." Harry said. He didn't mind cooking for Sirius and James, at all. "Teddy is still asleep in his pram." He added. He didn't think Remus was well enough to be pleased to have his baby with him, yet.

.

"You should change his nappy, Pads." James told Sirius, who had just bitten off a mouthful of bacon and toast. "Babies get sore if you leave them wet."

"I didn't know if I should." Harry told them. "I've never looked after a baby before… Have you, Sirius?"

"Yes, you, when you were a baby." Sirius said, licking his fingers.

"Oh yeah, you were the best help!" James said, voice laden with sarcasm. Sirius grinned at him, ate the rest of his sandwich and brushed off his fingers.

"Babies like me." He informed James, untroubled. "Like animals like me. I am just likable."

"You _are_ an animal." James told him. "God help Teddy, the poor baby."

"Poor baby, nothing." Sirius said. "I'll change him now and put something clean on him, before I wake Moony. He loves Teddy. He'll want to see he's safe."

"Yes, although how safe, with you looking after him, is questionable." James pointed out. Sirius laughed, easing himself carefully from under the slumped werewolf.

.

Remus groaned, a hand pulled loose from the blankets to still him. "I'm just going to get Teddy." Sirius told him, quietly. "Just rest, Remus. It was a bad full moon…" He paused, trying to decide if Remus was awake before moving again, although this time Remus yelped in pain, snatching a fistful of Sirius's sleeve. Harry looked at the ground, rather embarrassed, although he was sure being in pain, after what had happened, was nothing to be ashamed of.

.

Remus opened unfocused eyes, blinking at the room, his face tight with pain. Sirius paused, watching him with the same silver eyes that his animagus form had stared across the cornfield at Harry with.

.

Gasping sharply, Remus snatched the foot of the bed and, shoving Sirius's arm off him, he forced himself to sit up. "_Dora_!" He shouted, eyes widening in horror. "_Dora! No! Where's my wife?_! _My wife!_"


	18. Chapter 18

James hopped quickly off the bed, catching hold of Remus and steadying him. "…James?" Remus stared at him, eyes widening in shock. "_JAMES!?_"

"Yes." James said, brightly. "It's me. Amazing, hey! You died. I just saved your life!"

"What?" Remus said. "Dora… _Where's my wife!_? Where's Teddy!?"

.

Sirius got up at once, slipping quickly from the room to fetch the baby. Harry hovered, not sure what to do at all. He was rather amazed that Remus was alive again. "…Bad full moon." Remus said, rather apologetically as James helped him to dress, ordering Harry to come and assist, when he stayed, awkwardly by the door.

.

"Awful full moon." James told him, letting Remus sit on the bed once he was properly clothed. "I brought you out of the battle, straight into the middle of the full moon. You nearly exploded. I'm utterly sorry, mate."

"You saved my life." Remus assured him, hoarsely, pulling James into a one-armed embrace.

"Well, I was slightly obliged, under the circumstances." James pointed out, amused. "I got Harry!" He added, reaching out to bring his son over. "Harry's with us, Moony!"

"You're alive. _Thank God_." Remus rasped, overcome with relief. Harry flashed him a slightly embarrassed smile, surprised really that Remus was so very relieved. He had been very surprised that Remus had asked him to be Teddy's Godfather. "…And Voldemort?"

"_Dead_!" James and Harry said in a single voice. "…And I'm sorry." Harry added. "I couldn't say at Shell Cottage, or during the battle but I'm sorry about the row."

"I'm sorry I hexed you." Remus assured him. "…It's over. We won." He turned his attention to the doorway, watching Sirius carrying Teddy carefully to his arms. Taking hold of the relieved baby, and Sirius, Remus held both tightly against him.

"You're alive, Pads." He whispered. "I got you back."

.

"Teddy has been missing you." Sirius said, sitting on the bed next to him, holding Teddy for Remus, who kept a bruised, and rather bloody, nail-less hand against the soft clean babygro.

"Thank you for looking after him." He said, quietly. "Dora was fighting with Bellatrix... I saw what happened."

"Yes." James confirmed. "Bellatrix, who is now dead." He added. "Molly slaughtered her."

"Good." Remus said, staring at his hand, and his baby.

"But it's alright!" Harry exploded, finally. "It's alright, Remus. We can go back and get Tonks with the Time-turner!"

.

The silence was immense and to Harry's ears incomprehensible. Why was this a problem? "You can save everyone." He added, turning to his father. "Because… You've got a Time-turner. You can get Tonks and Fred, and everyone. You can get… my mum. You can, can't you?"

"It's not that simple." Sirius said, quietly. He lifted the baby higher in his arms, holding him closer for Remus.

"I can't get your mother because she died saving your life." James explained calmly. "Her sacrifice saved you and destroyed Voldemort and, trust me, he was vastly more dangerous last time. I can't go back and ruin what she did, not for you and not for me."

.

Harry felt like the floor was falling away. Part of him understood. Lily had saved him and killed Voldemort. _But it was his mother. It was eleven years of living in a cupboard believing he didn't deserve any better. It was eleven years of not being loved._

.

"Your love for Lily…" Harry said, angrily. He could feel fire blazing hot and cold inside him. "Your love for Lily is _legendary_!" He shouted. "You can't just leave her to die! Did you just go back for each other?! Is that what the Marauders are like!?"

"Of course it's not." Remus said, calmly, as if he was a voice of reason amongst them, which he most definitely was not.

.

"This whole thing was your idea!" Harry told him. "You stole a Time-turner and rescued people who were already dead! Why didn't you get my mother?!"

"Like I said," James interrupted firmly. "We can't get Lily. We can't change the past that monumentally. I shouldn't have got Remus. Obviously I shouldn't have."

"_But you did_!" Harry told him. "Maybe, if you get my mum the future will turn out better!"

"Better for you." James told him. "Better for me. But not better for the rest of the world. Voldemort is dead and we don't mess with that."

.

Harry opened his mouth, but he'd run out of words. He was suddenly very aware that he was standing in the middle of Remus's bedroom, shouting angrily, hands balled into fists. He closed his mouth again. "Well, we can get Tonks." He said. "For Teddy. If you got Remus. Teddy doesn't have to grow up without _his_ mother."

.

The silence was making him angry again. He turned to Sirius for help, but Sirius was stroking the baby's fingers, opted entirely out of the conversation, keeping the baby quiet at Remus's side. "We will get her back." Harry stated, certain as he'd ever been. "We will, Remus."

.

"You shouldn't have got me." Remus said, finally, looking over at James. "That was reckless. People must have seen I was dead."

"Yes, they did. But you have no real loved ones to be effected. We saw you dead." James told him. "But I don't think you're body not being there makes much difference. It was only children you taught couple of years back that cared… I don't know how it has changed things but not too much, I don't think."

.

"Then we can get Tonks as well!" Harry said. "Children shouldn't have to grow up without their parents!"

"No, they shouldn't." James agreed. "Remus… Dora was killed by Bellatrix. They duelled for a long time. It_ would_ alter the fighting. And her mother has been with her body for the last two days."

"Good! That doesn't sound too bad." Harry concluded. "And Fred." Harry added. "We have to bring Fred back."

"We might cause bad things to happen." James said. "Sirius?"

.

"Yes?" Sirius asked, lifting his head up from the baby.

"Do you remember seeing Remus's body? Do you remember lying beside him as Padfoot?" Sirius considered this carefully for a moment.

"…No." He said, finally. "I don't. I remember you telling me he was dead and that you had hidden the body." James's tried hard to maintain a serious expression as his eyebrows rose in astonished delight.

"You _don't_ remember?" He clarified. "You remember me telling you he was dead?"

"Yes. During the battle… That was the 'you' from the future, was it?"

"Oh yeah!" James laughed. "Bloody brilliant! Yes, it was. You lay down next to him and cried like a girl. I altered that. Right… How the hell can we extract your wife, Moony?"

"Can't you just get her?" Harry asked. "You _are_ going to get her, right?"

"Well, Yes, I guess I am." James said. "I am going to rescue Dora."


	19. Chapter 19

"No furry problems this time, I hope." James said brightly. He twisted the Time-turner, threw the invisibility cloak over his shoulders and let it spin him away through time.

.

"_No_!" Sirius cried, lunging forward.

"_What_!?" Harry exploded.

"_No!_" Remus concurred, clutching at Sirius frantically.

"Why?" Harry yelled. "What?"

"No_!_" Sirius howled again.

.

"…Oh, Wow!" Dora was saying, _already_ _there_, underneath the invisibility cloak with James; making it appear like some sort of crazy magic trick. "I really just side stepped death? …Oh my God, _Sirius_?! _Is that you?!_"

"_No!_" Sirius howled again, holding onto Remus, who looked equally devastated.

"…And that would warrant another '_Wow_'." Dora said, reasonably calmly. "So… I've been gone for how long?"

"Two days." James said, taking off the cloak and folding it. "We had to wait... Moony, mate! Your wife!" But Remus said nothing at all. He was still clutching Sirius and both of them looked about as unhappy with Dora's arrival as it was possible to get.

.

"Hi Dora." Harry said. "I don't know why… Remus, look… She's alright."

"Gosh, it's good to have _you_ back, Sirius." Dora said, drily. "Husband." She added, politely. Remus said nothing, staring at her, ashen faced. He released one hand from Sirius's shirt and lifted it to clutch his mouth.

.

"He's really shocked." James explained, recovering first. "We nearly killed him with a bad full moon… _Move, Pads, _wife back from the dead here… And he thought you were gone forever, Dora."

"Well he does look _devastated _about that." Dora offered. "Remus, are…?"

.

"_What have you done, James_!?" Remus screeched, hysterically. "_What have you done_!?"

"You know what I've done." James pointed out. "I have saved your wife from death… Sirius, can you move…" But ignoring James and Dora, Remus and Sirius continued to clutch each other in apparent devastation.

.

It was so inappropriate that James laughed. "Sorry." He said. Dora looked back at James, and at Sirius and her husband, and then she burst out laughing as well.

.

"_What the hell_!?" She asked.

"Moony!" James shouted at them "Padfoot!"

"Can I just ask…" Dora said, quelling her mirth. "Have they been this upset since Remus got Sirius back, or is this _specifically_ because I have returned?"

.

James stared at her. "…All the time." He lied, finally. He shoved the Time-turner back into his top and crossed the room, snatching Sirius's arm and separating them. "His wife's alive, Pads." He said, firmly. "Give the happy couple some space, Yes?"

"No!" Remus said again.

.

"Can I smack him?" Dora asked.

"Be my guest. I would." James offered. Dora walked over to Remus and slapped his cheek.

"I've been so worried about you!" She told him. "I've spent the last two hours chasing you across a battlefield, not knowing if you were alive or dead, Remus Lupin!"

.

"Dora?" Remus said, staring at her.

"_Yes!_" Dora assured him. "Are you glad to see me, or not?"

"No." Remus said. "I mean… Yes. Yes, I'm glad to see you. Something terrible…" He looked around the room, found Sirius and staggering back over to him, reaching out for his hands.

.

"…What is wrong?" Harry asked. "Something…" He cleared his throat. Never had he felt so much like a child in a room of adults. "Something has clearly gone wrong." He ventured. "Something… Sirius, what is it?"

"I don't know." Sirius stammered.

"But you're really glad to see Dora." James prompted him, firmly. "Your cousin. Congratulations, by the way, Dora, on the marriage and the baby and having the worst husband in…"

"_Baby Sirius_." Sirius said.

"…Is not Remus's son's name?" James finished, helpfully.

"_Teddy_." Remus said. "Teddy… was here. Wasn't he?" But Sirius didn't reply, his hands curling back around the empty air, his face naked with horror as he nodded.

.

"Where is he?" James asked, eyes sweeping over the room. "Harry?"

"What?" Harry asked. James checked behind the bed before turning back to them.

"Harry, where is Teddy?" He asked, urgently.

"Dora's baby?" Harry asked.

"Yes, the baby." James assured him. "You… It… You were holding him, Sirius. Yes?"

"_I was holding him_." Sirius whispered. "_I'm sure I was holding him._"

"No, you weren't." Harry corrected him. He was completely sure he would have noticed if Sirius had been holding a baby. And he hadn't been. He had been sitting with Remus on the bed, waiting for James to return with Dora.

.

"Where is Teddy!?" Remus yelled, clutching his hair. "I had him! I know I did!"

"You had him here?" Dora asked, sharply. "What do you mean?"

"We… I was holding Teddy." Sirius said. "I'm sure I was. Your hand, Remus…"

"Yes. I had my hand on his tummy." Remus nodded. "His blue Babygro."

.

"Where is he?!" Dora yelled, also looking around the room. "_You were holding my baby and he vanished, Sirius_!?"

"I think." Sirius said.

"You're mad." Harry told him. "You've both been here the whole time."

"With Teddy." James said.

"No." Harry frowned at him. "No. We… We, you turned the Time-turner. You didn't even go. Dora just appeared next to you."

"And Teddy?" James asked. "Harry, are you saying you don't remember Teddy being here at all? When was the last time you saw Teddy, Harry?"

"I've never seen him ever." Harry told him, honestly.

"Oh shit." James said. "And… Sirius, you remember holding him?"

"I think so." Sirius said. "I…" He looked at Remus again, who nodded.

"I think, just for a moment, he was here." Remus said. "_I felt him go_."

"I felt him go." Sirius agreed.

.

"_Where is my baby!?_" Dora exploded. She pushed past them, running down the stairs and throwing floo powder into the fire, calling to be connected to her mother's house.

.

.

"Do you remember me getting Teddy?" James asked Sirius. "Do either of you remember looking after him, Harry?"

"No. What?" Harry said. "When?"

"He was here." Sirius said, with certainty. "But I don't remember how or why. I only know that for a moment I was holding him. That I felt the horror of him going."

"Why would that have changed?" James asked, slightly frantically. They could hear Dora shouting into the flames in the room below them, trying to track her son down. "Think. Why would I have not got Teddy?"

"He was here." Sirius said again.

"I know he was here." James snapped. "He's been here all along. You asked me to get him. And you were both holding him the moment time altered? So your memories altered… but why would I have _not_ got Teddy?" He cried, hurrying down the stairs.

.

"There wasn't a baby here." Harry told his Godfather. "Sirius, you think Teddy Lupin was here?"

"Yes. He must have been." Sirius said. "I don't remember him being here, only on the spin of the Time-turner, for a moment he was here and… I felt myself loosing him." He broke off as Remus curled over again, driving his hands into his hair.

.

"Right. Let's go find him." Sirius concluded. "Can you walk or do you need me to do this?"

"I can come." Remus said, although he accepted Sirius's help to limp across the room.

"I'll tell Dora." Harry told him but he hurried down the stairs only to find Dora had already gone off into the floo, and that James had gone with her. He heard the whip-crack bang of Sirius and Remus disapparating, and suddenly the house was completely silent.

.

Harry stopped rushing around, letting his brain quieten. What had happened, he tried to consider. Had he ever seen Teddy Lupin? Had he been here in the house? Harry was sure he hadn't been. If he had, even if time had changed, Harry was sure he would slightly remember, wouldn't he?


	20. Chapter 20

Sirius held Remus's arm as he disapparated to Andromeda's house, where a house elf had just informed Dora, and 'Harry Potter', that his mistress had taken the baby to Hogwarts. Together they flooed to the headmasters office, where Sirius left Remus to struggle down the stairs, adopting his animangus form so he could use the dog's superior sense of smell to track down the baby.

.

He passed Dora and James frantically running towards Andromeda and the lake, on his return, but waited for them to pass so he could deliver the baby straight back into Remus's arms, out of breath but satisfied as he watched Remus sink down onto the steps, pressing the baby against his face, breath shaking in relief.

.

"…I imagine our mistake was letting Andromeda look after him while we were fighting." Sirius said, sitting down next to him. Remus gave a choked laugh, kissing his sons face.

"Dora said I'd lose him, if I went back for you." He tried to explain, his voice shaking. "That if I changed time, I'd loose him."

"Time has changed." Sirius pointed out. "It was fine before, because everyone thought I and James were dead. It was fine when James got you because he told me and Harry that you were dead and that he'd hidden your body. This is so much more complicated than I expected. Thank God James had the brains to do that. He's an evil genius."

.

"_You're alive_." Remus said. Sirius grinned.

"That's also good." He agreed. "…And Teddy is, Moony. _Thank God_." He added, looking at the baby thoughtfully. "…Andromeda took him with her, to search for Dora's body. I don't know why she would. Bloody stupid thing to do, bringing a baby here. There's still a sea of Death Eaters and Voldemort sympathisers on the loose… I've told Andromeda that Dora's alive. She's waiting for her by the lake. They'll have found each other by now and Dora will know Teddy's safe."

"Good." Remus nodded, holding his son tight in his battered hands. Sirius glanced at his washed-out face before standing and offering Remus help.

.

"We should take him home." He pointed out. "You look like death. It's vastly too soon after the full moon for all of this."

"Babies don't care how tired you are." Remus said, ruefully. "Think I'll faint if I stand up though. You okay to hold him?" He passed Teddy up into Sirius's arms before rising unsteadily. "We'd better wait for…" He closed his eyes as stars sparkled in front of his vision, and his balance vanished. "...Dora." He concluded.

"She's alive." Sirius told him. "Everyone's safe. We need to go home, before you collapse. And I don't trust this place. All the wards are down, there's still too much fighting. It's no place for a baby."

.

"Is it even okay to apparate with a baby?!" Sirius yelled, as they were thrown about in the icy blackness, landing back in Remus's bedroom. The jolt jarred into Remus's every bruised joint, and flung him over.

"…I don't know." He said, wincing as he picked himself up. Sirius laughed.

"I'd have caught you but... holding a baby. You know." He explained, cradling Teddy carefully as Remus limped over to the bed.

"Your thoughtfulness goes on and on." Remus assured him, wearily.

"It does!" Sirius laughed. "Get into bed. Rest. I'll hold Teddy until your wife shows up, if you still trust me to."

"It wasn't your fault…" Remus assured him, sinking back on the pillows in relief.

.

It felt like every bruise in his body was still bleeding, every joint swollen and damaged from the transformation and more so from dragging himself around Hogwarts in search of Teddy. He opened his eyes, again, trying hard to stay awake until he had seen Dora with his own eyes. He couldn't remember what he'd been saying. "Bring him close enough I can… Keep him close." Remus mumbled.

.

Sirius sat next to him on the bed, resting the baby against Remus's side, where it at once started to search for milk and cry. "Going to feed him, Remus." He said, quietly. "Do you want me to leave him here…?" He watched Remus's closed eyes, listening to his raspy breathing for a moment, before scooping the grizzling baby up and carrying it down the stairs, to get a bottle of milk.

.

True to Remus's request he carried the outraged baby back up the stairs before feeding him, on the bed where Remus was now fast asleep. He heard Dora and James returning, because the house was so quiet. He put the empty bottle on the side and lifted Teddy against his shoulder, listening to the footsteps thundering up the stairs, waiting for the door to fly open, which it did, with a bang.

.

"Get off my bed!" Dora shouted. "Give me my baby!" Teddy woke with a cry of fright. Remus forced himself to sit up once more, staring bleary-eyed as Dora wrenched their son out of Sirius's arms, gratefully kissing and cuddling him. "…You git!" She loosed a hand to shove Sirius away from them. "Gits!" She added, expanding the anger to encompass her husband, who stared at them all in utter incomprehension.

.

"So! This is excellent!" James said, loud enough to be heard over Teddy's and Dora. "Everyone's fine! I saved everyone!"

"…_You're alive_." Remus blinked at Sirius in disbelief. "I really stole a Time-turner…? That's real?" Sirius's laughter was drowned out by James, demanding to know where _his_ own son was, and Dora's struggles to calm down and nurse her frightened baby.

.

"…You're alive." Remus said finally to _Dora_. Teddy was calm now, in her arms. Sirius and James were standing, loitering. "Dora, I… I was looking for you in the battle." Remus told her. "Then James jumped me forward two days, which was the night of the full moon. When I woke up… That's when we got you and Teddy vanished."

"Which is _astonishing_." James added, helpfully. He sat down on the end of their bed with a flump. "I mean, I didn't think it would happen like that, not that I've had time to consider, but the tiniest differences seem to be rather massive. I made sure as many people as possible knew you were both dead. But, _because there was no body_, Andromeda decided to take Teddy with her to search for Dora. It changed other things as well. Originally, Bellatrix killed Dora and Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix, but when Molly hadn't seen Bellatrix murder her niece, who Molly is very fond of, Molly only disarmed her without killing her." There was a moment's stunned silence as each of them considered this unexpected turn of events.


	21. Chapter 21

"Bellatrix is alive!" Remus exploded. "No!"

"Yes!" James exclaimed. "I know! Can you believe that!?"

"Great!" Sirius said. "That was someone I wanted to deal with myself!"

"She's going back to Azkaban, again." James said. "Although they're going to have less to convict her on, if they find out she didn't murder you or Dora."

"When we've finished with her, there won't be anything left for Azkaban." Sirius assured him.

.

"My aunt killed me!?" Dora asked, horrified. "I knew she was mad but… _My aunt Bella?_"

"She killed Sirius as well." James pointed out. "And he's her cousin. She is one sick bunny."

"I'm just glad we get to deal with her ourselves." Sirius said, with a white-toothed grin.

"The Auroa's have her." Dora told him. "She'll stand trial and be sent to Azkaban."

.

Sirius laughed. "…_And_ she's your cousin as well." Dora pointed out. "And _you_ were laughing as you tried to kill her."

"To _disarm_ her." Remus said.

"No, to kill her." Sirius clarified.

"Quite." Dora said. "Personally, I never thought it was appropriate to bring it up before but she was _your_ cousin, and you were _both_ _laughing_ _as your tried to kill each other_."

"What are you trying to say?" Sirius asked her, smile firmly affixed to his handsome face.

"That you're more alike than you'd like to pretend." Dora told him.

"Charming." Sirius said, turning back to Remus. "Moony?" He asked. "Bitch that killed me, and your wife; what do you want to do about that?" Remus nodded.

.

"The way I see it." He said, possibly attempting appeasement. "A court of law can't punish her for murders that, thanks to James and me, she didn't commit. So, strictly speaking, we are obliged to do that ourselves." Sirius laughed softly.

"_We_ will discuss this in private." Dora assured her husband, icily. The corners of Sirius's eyes crinkled as he laughed at her.

.

"Right." Dora said, ignoring him hard. "Remus, can you change Teddy's nappy and see if there's anything to eat in the fridge. I need to contact the office, and I have never needed a bath more in my life."

"Yes." Remus said. "Of course."

"And thank you, James." Dora added. "Thank you so much for coming for me. The thought of never getting to see my son grow up…"

"I can imagine." James told her. Dora nodded, easing the sleeping baby out of her arms to come and embrace him.

"You're an amazing man." She assured him. "And brave. _So brave_."

"And brilliant." James assured her. Dora snorted with laughter.

"Yes." She conceded. "And modest too. Sirius... I'm glad you're alive. You didn't deserve to die. Harry will be so happy."

"But more happy about me." James offered, succeeding in making her laugh again.

"Yes." She said. "About both of you. I imagine we will be seeing a lot of you both."

.

"Are you going?" Remus asked, uneasily.

"We need to get sorted." Dora clarified. "I'll have to contact my office to let them know I'm alive. Probably have to go in and file a vast amount of paperwork. It was _so_ inspired of you to tell them I was missing, James."

"I know."

"But they'll probably want to know where I've been for the last three days."

.

"So you'll be on your own, looking after Baby Si… Teddy?" Sirius asked, stumbling shamelessly on the name.

"You need to stay." Remus pointed out. "You're in the future, with nowhere to go."

"And I can't imagine you'll be very handy with nappy pins, having clawed all your fingernails off." Sirius said.  
"I can't imagine your childcare is going to be up to much, if you still think nappy's are fastened with pins, Sirius." Dora told him. "And I really need time to recover. This has been one hell of a day."

"So, you're kicking us out?" Sirius asked her.

.

"I need to find Harry, Sirius." James told him. "And to explore the future. Remus needs to rest from the full moon. Dora needs to look after Teddy."

"You can stay." Remus said, firmly. "Seriously, James. Dora has to go out. I'll be awake looking after Teddy anyway."

"Family time, Moony." James told him. "Sadly it is a concept I have singularly failed to beat into Sirius. I blame it on his canine soul. Presumably I don't have to explain it to you as well, though? Shift, Sirius."

.

"_Everybody I love has died_." Remus said, sharply. He flushed at James's changed expression. "Sorry. But humour me, please." He asked. He came around the bed and embraced the both.

"We'll be back in the morning." Sirius promised, moving Remus's hair and hugging him close enough to press his lips against Remus's ear, mouthing 'tomorrow _you're coming with me to kill Bellatrix_' without Dora hearing him. Remus nodded.

"Tomorrow then." He said, going back to the bed and scooping up his son.


	22. Chapter 22

"Poor puppy." James said, whistling as they walked down the street.

"Piss off." Sirius laughed. "Where are we going?"

"Weasleys." James said. "Find my son. I have a surprise for him."

"Go on." Sirius suggested. "It's nice to be out, in the future. Grimmauld Place is up there with Azkaban, for places I intend to never go back to."

"That's a shame." James told him. "Because it's the only house we've got. Unless you intend to make me sleep on the blackened carpet in whatever remains of mine."

"Fine." Sirius said, irritably.

.

"I love it when you put up a fight." James laughed. "Want to hear what I've done?"

"Nope." Sirius said. James looked round at him, catching Sirius's grin.

"Pratt." He said. "I used the Elder Wand to shield Fred Weasley when he was meant to die. For safety's sake I used the wand to curse him, so he's appeared dead ever since. How is that for 'Master of Death' coolness? I just have to wave my wand and he's going to wake up. Harry is going to think I am a god! Everyone is going to bow down and worship at my brilliance."

"Unless they've buried him already." Sirius pointed out. "In which case I wouldn't mention you'd done anything."

"I'd just go back and have another go." James shrugged. "Besides, if he's been buried, that's your fault for making such a fuss about Remus's baby, who was fine, just in a different place. You don't remember looking after him at all, no?"

"No." Sirius said. "I mean, I was looking after him with Moony, before I went to get you, I suppose."

.

"You stayed awake all night with him in your arms, in case he missed his dead parents." James told him. "You carried him round solidly for forty eight hours because he cried every time he was put down."

"I am a bloody marvel." Sirius agreed. "No, I don't remember. You released the Time-turner, it span. For a split second I felt him in my arms, and I _felt_ like I had held him for two days without putting him down. He was there for a moment and then gone. If Remus hadn't been holding him as well I would have just thought I was being a bit mad... Shall we disapparate? Not that I don't love walking down the street with you, but we're getting looks from people who think you're Harry."

.

"The ladies love me!" James laughed, winking at two witches who were staring at them. "They are checking out _me_." James added. "Not you, pretty boy; because _I_ killed Voldemort."

"Except you didn't." Sirius pointed out.

"I could have." James said. "But Harry really needed a coolness boost. He's nothing like me."

"He's just like you." Sirius said at once. "Just younger."

"Yeah." James mocked. "Just younger."

.

.

.

James was still laughing as they again landed in the cornfield outside The Burrow. "This is exciting." he said, weighing up the unlit building. "I am so cool. I hope they haven't buried him."

"Do you want me to stay human?" Sirius asked him.

"With your wand out." James assured him. "They might hex first and ask questions later."

"Harry will explain." Sirius told him but he took his wand out as instructed, and followed James to the door. James flashed him a final look and knocked hard.

.

"Hello?" Ginny Weasley opened the door, pale faced. She stared at James in uncomprehending silence. "…Dad!" She yelled, finally.

.

A moment later Arthur Weasley appeared, looking so old and careworn he was as unrecognisable to James as James apparently was to him. James asked for Harry and waited till he came down the stairs with a pretty brown haired girl and a rather alarmed expression.

.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed. "Was Teddy alright?"

"Teddy was, of course, fine." James said. "We need to come in. I think I can help."

"It's not a good time." Arthur said. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Molly said, appearing behind him. "Please, do. It's fine."

.

"Right... It's about Fred." James said.

"Did you bring it?" Harry asked him. "Did you bring the Time-turner?"

"Better than that." James said. "Maybe if you could make us some tea, Molly, I can explain."

. With a soft gasp Molly suddenly jumped away from him. "…_James_?" She whispered, staring at him in horror.

"Indeed!" James agreed. "Let's sit, shall we."

"And get George." Sirius added.

.

.

.

"...So, in theory." James said, standing over the very dead looking Fred Weasley. "I just have to wave my wand and the enchantment will be broken."

"In theory?" Harry asked, nervously. James pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I'm still learning how to use the wand." He explained. "And it was a complex spell… He does look very dead." He closed his mouth as Molly, Arthur and George came silently into the room. James took out the Elder Wand and waved it in the air, sending a glittering trail of sparks as he swished it over Fred's lifeless body, before setting it down on his heart.

.

Absolute silence filled the room, not a single breath drawn or released. George and Molly each held a lifeless hand. After a moment, James tried again, sending another glittering trail through the air and onto the still body.

.

He tried a third time. Sirius shifted uneasily. Molly made a strange empty noise, and Fred's eyes snapped open. "…I can't think of anything funny to say." He slurred hoarsely. "Did we lose?"

.

Molly screamed, trying to hug him without damaging him. George started to laugh, hysterically. Molly clutching her own mouth, tried to stifle her own uncontrollable yells. And James watched them delightedly, before catching Sirius and heading out of the room.

.

"I am… _So good._" He chuckled.

"Did you actually need three attempts?" Sirius asked, at once. James gave him a look. He pushed his glasses up his nose, irritably.

"Yeah, I did actually." He admitted. "Did it look like I might have been doing it for dramatic effect?"

"Could have been."

"Sadly no. It did indeed take three attempts, but lets pretend I was being dramatic."

"Certainly, Prongs." Sirius assured him, laughing as well.

.

.

"…So for the record." Fred said, staggering out, arm slung firmly across his twin's shoulder, his mother clutching wildly at him. "I think I said…'I wouldn't be seen _dead_ in this shirt!'"

"Nah, you said 'this has been _dead_ good fun!'"

"That's _dead_ bad." Fred assured him, struggling to clear his throat. "James Potter! Oh my God, you are a legend! Even before you did this. Your map! You're pranks! You're everything! A living legend and you just saved my life as well! And you're living!"

"I am _that_ cool." James agreed, patting him on the shoulder as his family hauled him past.

.

"You're _amazing_!" Harry told him. "_James, I can't believe you've done this! Lupin and Tonks and Fred! You're amazing! The best! The most amazing ever!_"

"Thank you." James said. "You defeated Voldemort, Harry. You're pretty amazing yourself."

"You have to meet Ginny!" Harry told him. "And my friends! I was telling Hermione about you, when you came back. I think she thought I was mad! You have to come meet them!"


	23. Chapter 23

The Burrow was alive with laughter. Butterbeer's were thrust into their hands and Molly was cooking wildly. The din of people talking over each other was ear-splitting. "It's like being back at school!" James yelled at Sirius, who actually looked rather appalled.

"It's not like this in Grimmauld Place." He said, mildly.

"Or in Azkaban!" James yelled at him, brightly.

"Azkaban is one non-stop party." He said.

.

"Merci! You are 'eros!" Fleur Weasley embraced both Sirius and James as Bill flung his arms joyously around Fred, lifting him in the air.

"I am a hero." James assured her. "Also James, Harry's father."

"Oh but you are so young!" Fleur exclaimed.

"He's traveled through time, to save Fred!" Bill said, coming over to shake James's hand and put his arm around his wife's waist. "Amazing, James. An honour to meet you."

"And you are 'is friend?" Fleur clarified, taking Sirius's hand again.

"Pleased to meet you." Bill said, curling his free arm around his wife's waist as he offered Sirius his hand as well.

"I'm Harry's godfather." Sirius said, to Fleur. "Sirius."

.

"_Sirius?_" Bill said, dropping his grip on his wife, suddenly staring at Sirius in alarm. James laughed.

"De-aging charm." He said.

"Sirius!?" Bill said again, and then he snatched up Sirius's hand again and pulled him into a one armed hug. "God! Mum just called you 'James's friend'! Mum! Mum! It's _Sirius_!"

"It's serious?" Molly asked, her mouth falling open as she too realised, staring at Sirius in astonishment. James laughed, loudly.

.

"You're alive!" Ron said.

"Sirius!?" George yelled, swinging himself and Fred round. "Mate! I'm sorry. Bit distracted! You're alive… You look… _well."_

"You did look _pretty bad before_." James assured him.

"A de-aging charm." Sirius said, choking somewhat on the words. "It'll wear off."

"And a haircut!" James said, brightly. "And some of Messr Lupin's funkier clothes! And a glowing happiness at my return to life!"

"And to be away from Grimmauld Place?" Hermione suggested, eyeing Sirius uneasily. "You hated it, didn't you." Sirius nodded.

.

.

He had hated Grimmauld Place. And he had hated Azkaban. He hated the unbarable years of loneliness; so he found it rather ironic that he could be celebrating good news with the rowdy Weasley's, James _and_ Harry, and still feel so utterly unable to cope with all the noise and the volume of people.

.

He watched James being alive and in his element, Harry following him with a look of happy astonishment plastered over his young face. He touched his own face, uneasily, not sure how young he actually looked. Not sure what he actually looked like.

.

"I'm glad you're alive, Sirius." Hermione told him. Ron put his arm quickly around her waist.

"It's great, Sirius." He said. "You and Fred. Wow! Me and Hermione are going out, Sirius."

"That's great." Sirius said. "I'm going to get some fresh air."

.

"I'll come with you, if that's okay." Hermione said, at once.

"Fine, I'll come too." Ron said.

"Stay with Fred." Hermione told him. "I won't be long."

"I'll get you a drink." Ron told her. "I'll bring it out."

.

Hermione ignored him, striding ahead of Sirius out the door. It was getting dark outside, a warm windless twilight. A couple of stars were out in a pink tinted sky. Sirius didn't even know what month of the year they were in. He didn't know what year it was.

.

"You do look ever so different." Hermione glanced over him, sounding rather business-like. Sirius smiled, taking a mouthful of Butterbeer as he watched her tucking her frizzy brown hair behind her ears. He was actually rather sad that Hermione wanted to go out with Ron, because Harry obviously liked her.

.

"…I thought Harry had cracked up when he said you were alive." She added, with a small smile. "…Go back inside!" She added, crossly, as Ron appeared in the doorway with two Butterbeers. "I'll be five minutes!"

.

"Harry knows he can always talk to you." Sirius said, taking a sip from his own drink, ignoring Hermione making a quick appraisal of his appearance again.

"Yes." She said. "Well, I love Harry. I hope you don't mind that he talked about what you were doing."

"Did do." Sirius corrected her. "We're not doing it again. It went slightly wrong last time."

"Because of Teddy?" Hermione asked. "Harry said you thought you'd been holding him. But he was safe with Tonks's mum, wasn't he?" Sirius nodded, considering the casual was in which Hermione had just declared that she 'loved Harry'.

.

"When Lupin rescued you, it was fine because everyone thought you were dead." Hermione said, tucking her hair behind her ears, yet again. _Lupin_, Sirius thought, trying not to laugh.

"Yes." He agreed. "When 'Lupin' rescued me it was fine, because it was the moment of my death and there was no body to go missing."

"Sorry, 'Remus'." Hermione's cheeks coloured as she corrected herself. "And the same with Harry's dad. There was no body to find." Sirius nodded. Hermione risked a glance up into his silvery eyes. He looked about twenty. She probably wouldn't have recognised him if Harry hadn't told her, although he looked a lot like he had in Harry's parents wedding photo.

.

"What are you thinking?" Sirius asked her, quietly. Hermione felt her cheeks getting hot again.

"Nothing." She said. "That you look about twenty. Harry has his parents wedding photo. You were in it."

"It'll wear off." Sirius said, with a sigh. "…Soon hopefully." He added. But then he looked back at her with a faint smirk. "It must be rather creepy for you." He pointed out, wrapping his lips around the bottle again and taking a gulp. "So, what did you want?"

"Well." Hermione said. "It doesn't cost you anything to do it, does it. To go back and save someones life."

"It makes your fingers sore if you have to go way back." Sirius said. Hermione nodded.

"Well." She said seriously. "I wanted you to save someone else." Sirius nodded. He knew how many people had died in the battle and over the last few years. He knew what it was like to loose people you loved.

"We are worried about messing up time." He said, gently. "We do have to be very careful."

"Well, this person didn't leave a body either." Hermione told him. She looked up at him, pale and serious. _You would be an utterly perfect girlfriend for Harry_, Sirius thought. _You said you loved him and you've been by his side since he was eleven_.

.

Hermione blinked, looking at the ground for a moment. "…This person." She pressed on. "Died without whitnesses. There wasn't a body. I think you could get him safely."

"That does sound ideal." Sirius agreed. "You and Harry could come and explain it to James."

"We will." Hermone assured him. "But I need to talk to you about it first." She looked up at him again. Sirius really did look disconcertingly young and nice, all fluffy black hair and handsome-ness. "You see." She said. "It's you I need to talk to, because it's your brother, Regulus."

.

Sirius removed the bottle from between his lips with a pop. "Why in hell would I want to help that little shit!?" He spat. "I hope he died slowly and painfully."

"Your brother." Hermione stammered.

"He stopped being my brother when he chose to become a Death Eater." Sirius assured her. "I'd have killed him myself, if I'd had the chance."

"No, you wouldn't." Hermione said. "And he wasn't… He made a mistake!" Sirius laughed, and for all his looking so young and sweet, it was exactly the same hard barking laugh he'd had after twelve years in Azkaban.

"Yes, I would." He said. "I'd have ripped out his worthless little throat."

Hermione dropped her bottle, which smashed, leaving a fizzing stain on the flag stones, and brought Ron rushing out of the house.


	24. Chapter 24

Hermione dropped her bottle, which smashed, leaving a fizzing stain on the flag stones. Ron, who appeared to have been hovering in the doorway, shot straight out of the house. "What's going on?" He asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Tell Sirius about Regulus." Hermione begged him, clutching Ron's arm and yanking him through the door.

"What do you want to know, Mate?" Ron asked him. "Hermione told you about the Horcrux?"

.

"There was a Horcrux in a cave." Hermione said. Ron gave her a look.

"Right." He said. "Your brother stole it, knowing he would get killed. We didn't know till after you fell through the veil. But yeah, he was on our side."

"He wasn't 'on our side'." Sirius said, scowling as he considered it.

"He was only eighteen." Hermione reminded him. "Voldemort tried to murder Kreatcher. When Regulus found out, he stole the Horcrux and hid it."

.

"You've destroyed it?" Sirius asked at once.

"Yes." Ron assured him. "We've destroyed all the Horcruxes. But your brother's one really got us started. It all just fell into place after that." Sirius nodded, lost in thought. He glanced up at the sky and Hermione wondered if he was looking for the star his brother was named after.

.

"At the Battle of Hogwarts, the house elves fought in your brother's name." She told him. Sirius looked back at her in surprised, and then he gave another bark of laughter.

"It would be worth bringing him back, just to tell him that!" He exclaimed. "Reggie betrayed Voldemort?"

"He went willingly to his death." Hermione told him. "Proudly."  
"Well, he was proud." Sirius conceded. "And self-righteous…" He covered his mouth, thinking about it for a moment.

.

"…Does Remus know?" He asked, finally.

"I don't think so." Hermione admitted. "Harry felt very strongly that Professor Dumbledore wanted us to keep it secret."

"Keep what a secret?" James asked, flicking off the invisibility cloak next to them, and making Hermione shriek. James apologised, offering her one of the two beers he'd brought out. Sirius looked over at him thoughtfully.

.

"Reggie got himself killed stealing one of Voldemort's Horcruxes." He explained, quickly. "Should we rescue him?"  
"Do you want to?" James asked. Sirius looked at him for a long moment before he nodded.

"We'll see how defected he is." He said. "How hard will he be to get?"  
"Easy, I think." Hermione told him. "Now Voldemort's dead I think you can apparate into the cave, before you go back in time. Wear your cloak and don't get Regulus until he's in the water. You'll have to get into the water too."

"That might mess up my hair." James said, amused.

"It's got inferi beneath the surface." Ron told him.

.

"Sounds like an exciting challenge!" James said. "One little brother coming up, Pads."

"you're going now?" Sirius said. James patted his cheek.

"I know! Right in the middle of the party!" He said. "How am I going to find this cave, Miss Granger?"

.

.

Harry held James arm, focused on the island in the under-round cave and disapparated with a pop. With Voldemort dead nothing stopped the apparition and he heard James's voice swallowed up in the darkness as they both cast Lumos, peering at the inky water around them.

.

"So it's full of inferi?" James asked, going over to hold his wand as close to the surface as possible, peering into the thick blackness. "Lovely." He chuckled. "Wish me luck."

"Yeah, good luck." Harry said. "Dad."

.

James laughed again, before focusing on twisting the Time-turner. Kreacher had told them that Reggie had died the day before Sirius's father. He watched James twisting the Time-turner in the light of the wands. _Pleases come back alive_, he thought. He didn't really want to do this at all. James paused as he reached the correct number of turns, winked at Harry and released it, watching the golden loops form the illusion of a ball as they span. Harry stared at them until the golden rings finished spinning, looking up at James in surprise.

.

"...Who's he?" A voice asked from beneath the cloak. James, soaked to the skin, pulled the cloak back to reveal an equally drenched Regulus Black.

"That is my grown up son." James told him, gleefully. "We're in the future. Sirius decided to save your life."

"Great." Regulus said, coughing up foul water and shivering in his dripping robes. "…Is he here?" He added, glancing uneasily around the island.

"No." James said. "We're going to see him now."

"We can't disapparate." Regulus told him, as James tried to take his sleeve.

"Yes, we can." Harry told him, peering at the pale dishevelled brother of Sirius. "Voldemort is dead. His wards are broken. I killed him, with your help. With the Horcrux locket."

"Oh." Regulus said. He shivered some more. "Right... Great." He said, unconvincingly.

"And Kreatcher's still alive." Harry added. "He told us what you did."

"Smashing." Regulus said. "House Elves aren't actually meant to do that."

"Harry, it's freezing!" James told him. "We're soaked. Let's go and tell Sirius the good news!"


	25. Chapter 25

James dried his clothes with a flick of the Elder Wand, he didn't extend the assistance to Regulus who continued to drip, gritting his chattering teeth together as he stared around the dusky yard of The Burrow. James sent his patronus deer stampeding into the house to fetch Sirius, who came out looking rather sullen and unfriendly, with Hermione hurrying behind him.

.

"Hello Siri." Regulus said, hunched in his sodden robes. "Have you got yourself a girlfriend?" Sirius regarded him in unfathomable silence before wrapping his skinny shivering brother up in his arms and pressing kisses into his fetid hair.

.

"It's good to see you too, Siri." Regulus said, pinned in the embrace. "I left you a note. Did you ever find it?"

"No." Sirius said, pulling away to look at him again. "What… What did it say?"

"This and that." Regulus said. "You know… This is the future, is it? What happened to the Werewolf and your little rat of a friend?"

"Peter went over to Voldemort." Sirius said. "Did you know?" Regulus shook his head in genuine surprise.

"No. Most unlikely traitor ever." He said, trying not to shiver. "What do you want, Siri? Why have you brought me here?"

"Saving your life." Sirius said, studying his brother in silence, before he pulled off his own jumper, warm from his body heat, and held it out to him. Regulus considered it, in silence.

.

"That's sweet, Siri." He said, finally. "But there is not a rat's chance in hell I'm putting on your stupid Muggle fancy dress. I'd rather shiver." Sirius nodded, pulling the jumper back over his head.

"You're going to have to stop being such a pratt now." He said. "And it belongs to the Werewolf, actually."

"I shudder." Regulus assured him. "And if Voldemort can't bend me to his will, I'm sure you can't, Siri. What do you want?"

"I don't want anything." Sirius said. "This is Hermione. She found your Horcrux and destroyed it. You impressed her with your compassion towards Kreatcher. She wanted to save you, James obviously did save you and Remus made it all possible, by stealing the Time-turner and working out how to make it go back for people."

"I am alive and I'm indebted." Regulus groused. "Smashing. Well then, thank you, James. Thank you, Hermione."

"I'm very glad to meet you." Hermione told him, taking a hand he hadn't offered. "You didn't deserve to die at all. You were incredibly brave and good." Regulus said nothing, although he looked rather alarmed, taking a sly glance at Sirius, as if to better judge what was happening. "You should go and see Kreacher." She added, encouragingly. "He'll be so amazed to see you."

.

.

Twelve Grimmauld Place looked as ever. Grim and dark. How well the fidalias charm was working was anyone's guess. Sirius gazed up at the black windows before tapping his wand on the door and letting them inside.

.

"Mother is… I suppose…" Regulus said, in a small voice.

"Yes." Sirius nodded. "Father and Cygnus were killed by the Death Eaters, right after you died. Mother… She died while I was in Azkaban. Sorry."

.

Regulus didn't say anything. He looked younger than his eighteen years, peering into the decayed entrance of his former home. "…Kreacher!" Sirius broke the silence with a loud yell. "Kreacher! I'm back, you worthless little vermin!"

"As nice as ever, Siri." Regulus said, with a weary sigh. He pushed wet hair out of his eyes and stepped into the hallway, peering at the mold and peeling wallpaper.

.

"Kreacher?" He called finally, his voice just a little shaky. "Kreacher? Are you here?"

.

The black curtain covering Mrs. Black's painting slid open, but the image was perfectly silent. The wizened woman stared through her years of dust and grime, as Regulus tiptoed over the tattered carpet, shoulders hunched up, eyes wide as saucers.

.

"Master Regulus?" Kreacher croaked; big rheumy eyes glistening with tears. "Master Regulus, is that really you?" Shuffling awkwardly down the corridor, on stiffened legs that tried to propel him faster than he could manage. "Master Regulus, you have come back?"

.

"Kreacher!" Regulus thumped down on his knees, pulling the shaking house elf into a tight hug, hiding his face on the elf's bony chest as his shoulders shuddered and his voice broke into choking sobs; for his dead parents, for his long vanished home, for the death he had willingly sentenced himself to that morning, nearly twenty years before.

.

While Kreacher valiantly tried to explain his miserable failure to destroy the locket, Regulus sobbed. Sirius and James, like Mrs Black's portrait, watched on in silence.

.

"…I think we did the right thing." James murmured finally. "Getting him." Sirius nodded.

"I'm going to kick that elf down to the kitchen and use it as a chew toy, when Reggie bucks up." He said, silver eyes never leaving the embracing elf and boy. James stifled a laugh.

"Because?" He asked, quietly.

"Because he got me killed." Sirius said. "And nearly got your son killed as well. I'm going to rip his skinny arms off and beat him to death with them, before I toss the rest of him on the fire. He was my house elf. Sworn to serve me till death."

.

"Siri?" Regulus had stood up again, shock robbing him of years, tears streaking his pale cheeks, he clutched one of the house elf's big bony hands, trying desperately hard to subdue his sobs. "Siri, is it alright if I go to bed?" He asked.

"Yes." Sirius nodded. "I mean… I'm glad you're alive, Reggie. I… wish I… You should have listened to me, shouldn't you?"

"No, Siri." Reggie sniffed, pushing his limp hair out of his eyes. "You disgraced our family." Sirius chuckled.

"I love you to." He said. "Go to bed. Big day of grovelling for you in the morning."


	26. Chapter 26

James Potter opened the front door of Grimmauld Place wide. He rolled up his sleeves. Taking out the Elder Wand he leveled it on the grimy hallway and focused his mind. "_Scougify!_" He screamed, blasting a tidal wave of raw energy and pink bubbles into the house, which vibrated like it had been hit by an earthquake.

.

Sirius, who was standing behind him, fell over, laughing hard, as things crashed to the floor within the building and windows burst open on every level, spewing mouldering rubbish out into the street. A moment later Regulus Black appeared in one of the open windows, thoroughly cleaned and again dripping wet, he glared silently down at the two laughing men, before flinging the window closed with a bang.

.

"And once more for good measure?" James asked, before leveling the wand on the hall again.

"Three times to be sure." Sirius offered. James nodded.

"The force of the Elder Wand is unbelievable." He commented. "I am actually going to be undefeatable. _Scourgify_!"

.

The single closed window burst open. Bubbles floated from the others, as more rubbish was ejected over their heads into the street. There was a pause while both men waited to see if Regulus would return to the window. When he didn't James shot the spell into the house for a final time, before heading back inside to admire his handiwork.

.

"Marvellous!" James laughed, examining the stripped walls and floorboards, glistening with water. The whole house smelt of carbolic soap. "Unbelievable." He added, seeing Mrs Black's curtain-less portrait was still firmly fixed into the plaster of the paperless wall. "Did you stick that there yourself?"

"No. But I believe she taught me permanent sticking charms, before she realised what a loathsome disappointment I was to her."

"Would you like to do the honours?" James suggested, offering Sirius the Elder Wand.

"I guess I do." Sirius held it for a moment, looking at the silent portrait of his mother. "It is just a picture."

.

Mrs Black had not emitted a single sound since Regulus had stepped into the house. The painting's surface was scrubbed clean of grime and dirt and Sirius's mother blinked at him through a sheen of wet oil paint. Her grey eyes moved to the Elder Wand in his hand, shrewdly, before she met his gaze; thin lips twisting up at the corner. "Sorry I was such a disappointment to you, Mother." Sirius said, lifted the wand to her face and cast _Fiendfyre._

_._

The inferno swallowed the wall and both men were forced to back up as the fire wrestled for control, and then was sucked back into the wand. "My favourite spell." Sirius said, peering at the blackened wall.

"All my splendid housework." James complained. "And you still have to paint it black." Sirius's laughter burst forth from held breath. He passed the wand back to James and watched him washing the wall clean again, brittle blackened chunks of the painting floating out the door in the sudsy water.

.

"Now." James said, brightly. "How about some Muggle decour? Do you feel like a hallway from Number Eleven, or Number Thirteen, Grimmauld Place?"

"Shall we look through the windows?" Sirius suggested.

"No way!" James laughed. "Where would be the fun in that? Let's have the hallway from Number Eleven…" He paused, focusing his mind before casting the spell. With a swirl of colour and a flutter of movement the walls were suddenly papered in red and gold stripes, new glass domed lights illuminating a row of pictures, a big mirror and a deep red carpet.

.

"Gryffindor!" Both boys exclaimed simultaneously.

"Ten points to Number Eleven!" James cried. "Shall we give them a chance with the Dining Room?"

"Why not." Sirius laughed, opening the door on the dripping Dinning Room, table swept into the wall, chairs tumbled and broken.

.

A moment later the disarray was replaced with mint green walls, another polished wooden table, complete with large bowl of fruit. "…Or not." James laughed, swishing his wand and replacing the lot with bright cream walls and a sea of mostly pink plastic toys, that covered every surface and tumbled around their feet.

.

"What on Earth is this?" Sirius asked, trying not to laugh as he picked up a small plastic model of a naked woman with waist length blond hair, a make-up painted face and long legs ending in it's only remaining clothes, some bonded on pink stilettos.

.

"This is Number Thirteen's Dining Room." James defended himself, watching Sirius manipulate the dolls exceptionally bendy legs. "And that is what Muggles give their little girls to play with."  
"Their little girls or their little boys?" Sirius asked, with a snort of laughter.

"Either way." James shrugged. "Shall we try number fourteen or stick with tasteful Number Eleven?"

"We're keeping this one." Sirius assured him. "This one is splendid." He picked up what appeared to be a life-sized plastic human head, face caked in make-up, hair filled with plastic clips. "Let's do the rest of the house."

"Your brother looks like a pink bedroom might brighten up his life somewhat." James suggested. "And look, that is my son, come a visiting."

.

Harry had knocked on the door, but as the door was wide open and the hallway unrecognisable he had stepped inside. Hermione following wide-eyed.

.

"You got rid of your mothers portrait." Harry said.

"That's all you have to say about our fantastic decorating?" James asked him. "Son, when are you going to move in with us?" Harry opened his mouth a couple of times.

"I would love that." He said, finally. "Really?"

"Of course." James assured him, guiding them down to the kitchen, which he hit with the Elder Wand to move in Number Eleven's décor.

.

"Wow." Harry said.

"I hate Number Eleven." Sirius complained. "I bet Number Thirteen have a pink kitchen." He sat the naked Barbie doll on the table and started a futile search for Butterbeers.

.

"How's Regulus?" Hermione asked, finally. "Was Kreacher thrilled to see him?"

"Did Kreacher try and kill you, Harry?" James asked at once.

"No." Harry said, but he glanced at Sirius, as he realised. "He told me… That Sirius had gone… He helped Voldemort…"

"To kill me." Sirius finished for him.

.

"You haven't done anything to Kreacher, have you?!" Hermione said, at once. "Sirius, he was sorry. He tried so hard to make amends. Harry was his master after you died and he looked after him and fought for us. He got all the house elves to fight for us."

.

They all watched Sirius consider this. Finally Sirius cleared his voice. "Kreacher!" He called. "I, your living Master, command you to show yourself."

.

There was a pop and Kreacher appeared in the middle of the kitchen, muttering nervously. His arrival was followed by a flurry of footsteps down multiple flights of stairs, and Regulus flung himself into the kitchen in his pyjamas.

.

"Please, Sirius!" He implored at once, frantically snatching the old house elf behind his back, where he grumbled and tried unsuccessfully to get between the two brothers. "Don't hurt him! He was confused! He's old!"

"Old enough to get his head put on the wall?" Sirius asked, at once.

"_No!_" Regulus shouted angrily. "_God, I hate you Sirius!_"

"_He got me killed!_" Sirius roared back.

"_Kreacher was confused!_" Hermione said, throwing herself in front of the elf as well. "_And he's your brother!_" Sirius stared at them before turning to James who was trying not to laugh.

.

"It's a house elf, mate." He said, with a shrug. "Your house elf, though, that tried to get you killed."

"_Oh, please no!_" Hermione wailed, spreading her arms. "_Please, Sirius, please don't!_"


	27. Chapter 27

"Hit yourself." Sirius said. Kreacher did, tugging his arm free from Regulus and beating his own head. With a screech of fury Hermione drew her wand, leveling it on Sirius, as Regulus tried desperately to hold the elf's arms. "Hit yourself harder!" Sirius said, ducking as Hermione actually launched a stunning spell at him.

"Mate! My lovely new kitchen!" James complained. "_Expelliamus_!" He added, knocking the wand out of Hermione's hand. "The elf tried to kill him, love." He pointed out.

"Succeeded." Sirius said. "Irritatingly."

.

"_You have no right!_" Hermione howled at him. "_Give me your wand, Harry!_" James laughed harder.

"You are _brilliant_!" He told her.

"_Kreacher risked his life fighting for your son!_" Hermione spat at James angrily. "_He brought all the Hogwarts house elves to the battle!"_

"…And no one went home without a cup of tea or a bedtime story." James finished for her.

.

"_They fought as bravely as any wizard!_" Hermione proclaimed. Regulus lost hold of Kreacher's hands, looking round at her in alarm. "They did!" She assured him, flushing. "You should free him, Sirius!"

"Standard treatment for a rogue house elf that's murdered its owner." James agreed. "Maybe chuck in a share of your gold for good measure."

.

"Hit yourself with a frying pan." Sirius said, looking over the glossy new range cooker for a suitable pan.

"_That is inhuman and sadistic!_" Hermione shouted. "_Please don't do this, Sirius! Hasn't there been enough suffering?_"

"I'm not suffering. I'm loving it." Sirius laughed.

"_I meant Kreacher!_" Hermione said. "_Please!_"

"He doesn't obey me, anyway." Sirius pointed out. "I have to be brutally specific. Hit yourself hard enough to cave in your own skull."

.

Hermione screamed. Harry took out his own wand and Regulus clasped the house elf tightly around it's skinny ribcage as it moved to obey. "_Siri, please!"_ He begged. Hermione burst into angry tears and James stepped in, catching Sirius's arm.

.

"The house elf got him killed." He pointed out. "And nearly got Harry killed as well."

"He was confused." Harry said. "…But he did get you killed."

"So!?" Hermione demanded. "So he should be tortured, Harry!? Tell them! Stop them!"

"Please stop." Harry said. "I mean… This isn't right. Is it." He looked uncertainly at his father, still holding Sirius's arm, and Sirius who did not look remotely upset. Sirius who looked alive again, and more alive than Harry had ever seen him. Really young, eyes sparkling, lips actually curling into a smile. Sirius who Harry was sure had loved him as much as anyone ever had, in his whole life, who had always been so unhappy.

.

There was a feeble part of him that wanted to let Sirius have his fun. Hadn't _he_ wanted to kill Kreacher when he'd found out how he'd betrayed Sirius? He wondered if James 's better judgement was also coloured by the same desire to see Sirius happy, but one glance at James's face assured him it wasn't so. James wasn't appalled. James also thought _it was funny_. Harry remembered Sirius saying _so disparagingly_ to him 'you're less like your father than I thought' when he had been fifteen. It had haunted him afterwards but now he actually saw what Sirius had meant. And that it might actually be true.

.

"Yeah, I don't want you to do this." He said, firmly. "I really don't." Sirius looked round at him, still smiling, surprised.

"You _are_ supposed to be mature." James stuck up for his son. Sirius considered it, looking at the elf hidden behind Hermione and his brother. There was nothing mature or indeed likable on his pretty face.

"You know your orders, Kreacher." He said, pointedly, and stalked out.

.

"Sirius!" James jumped after him. "Mate! Don't leave me with an elf trying to kill itself and a bunch of crying kids. Mate!" He cautiously caught Sirius's arm, coaxing him back into the room, although Sirius was clearly blazing. Silently he pulled off the jumper he had offered Regulus the evening before and took it over to Kreacher.

.

"Take it!" He ordered, shoving it into the elf's face.

"Take it." Hermione urged him, hand around the elf's wrist, to help him. The minute the bony fingers had curled around the cloth, breaking the contract of ownership between elf and master, Sirius brushed James off and did stalk up the stairs, leaving the kitchen speechless.

.

He was sitting on Remus's doorstep when Remus apparated back from the Ministry some hour later. "Padfoot." Remus breathed, his face breaking into a massive smile. "I am never going to get sick of seeing you alive." He pulled Sirius back to his feet, squashing the baby in his arms with an enthusiastic hug.

.

"I've been waiting for you for ages." Sirius told him, mollified somewhat by the warmth of the welcome.

"I've been at the Ministry." Remus told him, letting them inside and flicking on the kettle.

.

"Hello Baby Sirius." Sirius said, taking the baby into his arms while Remus made tea.

"He's missing you already." Remus said. "Ministry wanted me to prove I was alive by filling in about a hundred forms."

"James is making me live in Grimmauld Place." Sirius told him. "I've let Kreacher go, because I hate him so much."

"I hate him too." Remus said, putting the baby on the floor and a mug in Sirius's hand. Sirius put the mug on the table and hugged him again.

.

"I only love you, Moony." He told him.

"I missed you so much." Remus said. "I'm so sorry, for everything."

"You're going to help me kill Bellatrix, aren't you?" Sirius reminded him. "Do you remember her killing Dora, now James has changed it?"

"No." Remus said. "But I remember her killing you. I watched you fall into the archway and vanish, forever. For what would have been forever. And afterwards she sang about it."

.

"She sang about it?" Sirius queried, letting go of Remus to see his face. Remus nodded.

"Yes." He said, bitterly. "She made up a song." Sirius stared at him, open mouthed.

"And how did the song go?" He asked, quietly.

"Well…" Remus studied him nervously. "Just um… A stupid horrible… It went '_I killed Sirius Black_', again and again in a sing-song way." Sirius blinked at him. "Let's find someone to look after Teddy." Remus concluded.

"Bleeding right!" Sirius assured him, scooping the baby up and following Remus out the door.


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: I feel I need to add some authors notes for this chapter! (And maybe the last one?) I have never wanted any of the characters to come across as MarySues. **

**I wanted to convey in the last chapter (mostly by James's reaction) that Sirius was 'playing', abet very cruelly, with Kreacher. I would be very interested in knowing if this was obvious, or if it sounded like Sirius intended to kill him.**

**This is the quote from Order of The Phoenix, that I was using to try and imagine how Sirius is feeling **

**Dumbledore: "_I arrived at Grimmauld Place shortly after they had all left for the Ministry, it was the elf that told me - laughing fit to burst - where Sirius had gone."_ (he'd gone to try and save Harry from Voldemort, whom Kreacher had already tricked into going to the Ministry)  
**

**So, seriously, I would be very interested to know what you thought about Sirius's behaviour, if you thought I had written him out of character, and if you like or dislike him as a character? That's a lot to ask, isn't it!  
**

**The same goes for Remus in this chapter. Do you feel he's out of character? Aside from the casual torture and murder, Bellatrix killed Tonks and Sirius so I imagine Remus really does hate her, maybe more than he hates anyone else?  
**

**This is the quote from The Prisoner of Azkaban that I was thinking of when I was writing this chapter...**

**_Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised. "You should have realised," said Lupin quietly. "If Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."_  
**

**So I would love to know what you think. Thank you to all the people who do review, it means so much to me. :D  
**

Bellatrix Lestrange was in the closed ward in St. Mungo's. She had a private room, which she was sitting in, gaunt faced, clean blue hospital gown covering her thin body to her bony knees. She was staring out of a window, at another wall of windows, across the inclosed courtyard. She looked slowly up Sirius and Remus's bodies, as they came together through the doorway. She reached their faces, and her mouth fell open.

.

"Hello Cousin." Sirius said. Bellatrix's mouth stayed open. Her eyes widened and then she did what she had been told to do over an hour ago, she took the assortment of tablets on her bedside table, very quickly, choking on the water as she gulped them down. Sirius watched her, his smile broadening immeasurably. "How did the song go again, Remus?" He asked.

"Oh, it went '_I killed Sirius Black! I killed…_" He sang, watching the woman's eyes widen still further. "…Sirius Black." He stated.

.

"You are so dead, Bella." Sirius assured her. Bellatrix laughed uncertainly, and then she reached out, touching the air cautiously in front of her.

"Not sure I'm real, cousin?" He asked, stalking into the room and ripping her up by her throat. Bellatrix clawed angrily at his arm, raking tears into his skin with her sharp dirty nails. Sirius smiled at her, watching her choking. "You tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity. You tortured Hermione." He told her. "You murdered Dobby. You murdered me and Dora. You tortured Harry."

.

He let go and watched her fall back into the chair. Bellatrix choked, hissing something about 'the Werewolf' and 'Doby'. Remus pulled the door carefully closed, and rested against it, watching.

"Doby was Cissy's house elf." Sirius clarified for her. "And although you think you didn't kill Dora, we know you would have, given the opportunity."

"_You're insane_." Bellatrix gasped.

"You're the one seeing dead people." Sirius told her. "I'm going to torture you for eternity, Bella."

.

"You're dead." Bellatrix hissed, groping the table for something to use as a weapon.

"Did they take your wand away?" Sirius asked. "They didn't take ours?" He brought his own out, slowly. Bellatrix froze, watching him.

"I don't care what you do to me." She hissed at him, defiantly.

"Brilliant." Sirius said. "Because this is going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me."

.

"You're dead." Bellatrix said again, desperation creeping through her anger. Sirius smiled at her; watching panic creeping through every cell in her body. Her eyes flicked to the open window, just for a split second, and then she lunged for it. Remus swung away from the door to catch her. His arm was still caught in Sirius's grip, holding him back, as Bellatrix hit the stone slab's below.

.

They both flinched as body and stone connected. Sirius released Remus, and put his wand away. A cry of horror suddenly rose up in the breeze, but neither of them went to the window.

"…That's enough?" Remus asked. Sirius looked over at him, muscle twitching in his clenched jaw, he nodded, and they left at once.

.

.

"That's enough." He said, finally. They were back in Remus's house, drinking their abandoned tea, lukewarm. Remus nodded. He cast a spell to warm their mugs.

.

"So, you're going back to Grimmauld Place?" Remus asked.

"Haven't got anywhere else to go." Sirius pointed out.

"You _could_ stay here." Remus said. "Do you want to?" Sirius looked over at him before shaking his head.

.

"How long have you been married?" He asked.

"Eleven months." Remus said. "Last July."

"Oh, interesting. How old did you say Baby Sirius is?" Sirius asked, a shadow of a smile returning to his pale face. "Shotgun wedding, Moony?"

.

Remus laughed into his cup. "Hardly." He said. "She knew I didn't want a baby."

"You utter bastard." Sirius exclaimed. "Poor Baby Sirius! I bet he didn't want a shit father like you either!"

"I love him more than anything." Remus said, seriously. "I'm just saying, you know, I'm one hundred per cent certain he didn't want a Werewolf for a father."

"Whatever." Sirius shrugged. "…Anyway, I love Baby Sirius too."

"I know you do." Remus assured him. "It's a different feeling." He added. "The love you feel for a baby. It's not like anything else."

.

"Think I fancy getting very drunk." Sirius said, letting his attention wander.

"I could do with a drink." Remus admitted. "Did you know Bellatrix would go for the window?"

"No." Sirius said, at once. "But I'm glad she did. I suppose you'll have to stay sober, for the wife and child."

"I'll join you for one drink." Remus told him. "And then I'll look superior, while you fall all over me."

"Lovely. Just like old times." Sirius laughed.

"Sounds good to me." Remus assured him.


	29. Chapter 29

"Remus!" Dora shouted up the stairs. Remus sat up sharply and chucked his full cup of Firewhiskey under the bed, prompting a snort of laughter from Sirius, who was possibly even drunker than he was.

.

"Hide." Remus told him.

"Where?" Sirius asked. "And why do I need to?"

"You need to." Remus assured him, trying really hard not to laugh as he shoved Sirius off the bed.

.

"Remus, if I find out that it was you and bloody Sirius at the hospital, I am going to be so angry!"

"_I need to hide_." Sirius agreed. Remus covered his mouth, choking on laughter, as Sirius tried to crawl under the bed, hampered by an assortment of hat boxes and baskets of clothes.

"Change into a dog." He ordered.

"I can't, because I'm laughing too hard!" Sirius sobbed, lying on his back on the floor, having entirely given up on getting under the bed.

.

"...Remus! Are you here!? Where's Teddy!?"

"At your mothers!" Remus shouted down the stairs. "I'm just coming!" Sirius snorted loudly, covering his mouth again, and they both listened to Dora running up the stairs.

.

"Why is Teddy at my mother's!?" Dora shouted at him. "What are you doing? And why do you look so… Did you go to the hospital with Sirius today?!"

"No." Remus said. "I mean, yes. Yes, I did. Bellatrix jumped out of a window. We were terribly upset. Sirius was terribly upset. So I took Teddy to your mothers and got him a drink."

"A drink?" Dora studied him with actually glowing, actually red, eyes. The eyes were rather scary.

"...Because he was very upset." Remus added, again.

.

"Did he levitate her out of the window?" Dora asked him.

"No." Remus said. "She jumped. She was mad. She was going to kill you. She did kill you originally. And him… And Dobby."

"I don't even know who Dobby is." Dora said. "She was going to be tried in a law court, Remus! Not thrown out of a bloody window! If I find out you had anything to do with this… _I know it was you_! I'm an Auror, Remus! It's my job to bring people like that to justice!" She cursed, trying to stop shouting. "...I know it was you. Do you know we're in a declared state of peace and that that is murder? Where is he? Grimmauld Place?"

"I think so." Remus said. "Don't you want to go and get Teddy?"

"No!" Dora shouted. "I don't want to go and get Teddy! I want you to sober up! You reek!" She ordered. "What the hell, Remus?! It's tea time and you're supposed to be looking after our son!"

.

"My best friend is alive." Remus told her. "After nearly three years, he's alive. And we just watched a woman kill herself. I'll get Teddy myself, if I have to."  
"You bloody well won't!" Dora assured him. "My mother hates you having him enough when you're sober! And you just helped your 'best friend' murder my mother's mentally ill sister. _Sober up!_" She screamed and slammed the door in his face, as hard as she could.

.

"Bitch." Sirius said. Remus looked down at him, still flat on his back at the side of the bed, grinning broadly.

"She's… just..."

"Premenstural?" Sirius suggested.

"It's been a bad… lot of time." Remus pointed out. "She's gone to shout at you now."

"But I am _not home."_ Sirius gloated. "She can shout at Prongs. I'm going to sleep. In your bed. Don't let her kill me, alright?"

"You're assuming I have powers I really don't." Remus said. "I think you should turn into a dog and hide."

"If I manage to get from the floor to the mattress I will be deeply impressed." Sirius assured him. "I really do have very little against your floor. The carpet is fluffy and nice."

.

"I wish I still had my drink." Remus told him.

"Have mine!" Sirius offered, generously. "It just falls on my face when I try and drink it now."

"That's because you're lying on the floor." Remus told him wisely.

"I think it is." Sirius agreed. He watched Remus downing the last of the firewhiskey and then he went to sleep, still smiling.

.

.

"Is it wrong that I want to hide under my cloak and watch you getting beaten up by a girl?" James asked, kicking Sirius repetitively.

"Go away, Prongs!" Sirius whined, before lurching upright. "_Oh my God, James! You're alive!_" He yelled.

"_And you're wrecked!_" James laughed. "Did you really launch your cousin through a hospital window?"

"No. She jumped." Remus confirmed, clutching his head, as he propped himself against the bedside cabinet. "...Because she was mad."

"You do know who you're talking to, right?" James asked them.

"_She jumped!"_ Sirius complained. "...Did Dora shout at you, Prongs?"

"No, but she's going to murder you, if you're here when she gets back. Get up. Remus, sober up. Sirius… Sirius, _get up!"_ He snatched a handful of black hair and yanked it, hard. Sirius punched him in the leg and James screeched angrily, snatching the Elder Wand from his pocket and poking it in Sirius's face. "Get Up." He warned him. "You're making trouble for, Moony. Moony, grovel, you idiot. _A lot._ We're going. Buy flowers or some such, yes?"

.

"She's a bitch, Moony." Sirius slurred at him. "Tell her to go away. Or tell her to jump out…"

"NO!" James assured him. "No, Pads. You are not finishing that sentence. Later Moony. Grovel! Lots!" And he dragged Sirius stumbling down the stairs and vanished with a pop from the street outside.


	30. Chapter 30

**AN:Sorry about the re-post. I missed a bit off the end :(**

"We actually have to go to the funeral?" Sirius asked, in disbelief.

"You don't have to." Remus told him. "You're officially dead. _We_, my wife and I, have to. Harry has been asked to."

"That's right, I have." Harry agreed. "Tonks asked me."

"Tonks asked you, knowing that we saved her from being murdered by that insane psycho?" Sirius clarified.

.

"Bellatrix was mad." Remus pointed out, patiently. "And Voldemort took advantage of that. She's served her time in Azkaban for her crimes in the first war. And in this one, thanks to us, she only really killed a house elf, and nobody is that fussed about that."

"Clearly you don't know Hermione and my brother." Sirius suggested.

"_And me."_ Harry said.

"I know." Remus assured him. "Clearly I have motive enough to seriously dislike the woman. I meant The Ministry. The authorities don't care about house-elves. These are the wizards that still want me locked up in their secure compound once a month; or forever, should the mood take them." He looked over at Sirius, who studied him, silently. "…Since when have we ever been able to do anything about it?" He asked. Sirius didn't say anything. He was still nursing a hangover, and brooding. _Like a very handsome yet irritable film star,_ Harry thought. He hadn't established why Sirius looked so young and handsome again now. It wasn't even young-ness really so much as looking totally different. But Remus and Tonks still looked perfectly normal, and James looked how he had in the few photo's Harry had of him.

.

"So where is your brother?" Remus asked, instead. "I haven't seen him yet."

"No. And he owes you his life." Sirius agreed.

"I think he's upstairs with Hermione." Harry ventured, _well_ _aware_ that Regulus Black was upstairs with Hermione. They had been 'upstairs' together all morning. He had even taken the floo over to The Burrow, to ask Ron to come over because of it. But Ron had been out watching some random Quidditch game, with Fred and George. Molly had sent Harry back to Grimmauld Place with a casserole and a pumpkin and pineapple gateaux, but no Ron.

.

"Reggie!" Sirius hollered, going to the bottom of the stairwell. "_Reggie_!" Remus flinched, a hand rising to his aching head. Sirius had just looked round and noticed. "I could do that all day." He said to Remus and Harry, with a smile that spread to every muscle in his face. "He's not dead… _Reggie!_"

.

"_What?!_" Regulus Black swung himself onto the staircase, loitering crossly. He was less pretty than Sirius, but definitely handsome. Harry was sure Ron should be very worried about this.

.

"Remus has come over, so you can thank him for saving your worthless Death Eater life." Sirius told him, going back to the table and settling with a Butterbeer to watch.

.

Mortified, and failing badly to hide it, Regulus Black slunk into the kitchen. They were, Harry realised, almost the same age. Like Harry, Regulus was thin and dark haired, although he had Sirius's very good, well-behaved, hair, while Harry had 'I've just finished a Quidditch game in a thunderstorm' hair. He didn't know why he was drawing the comparison. He should, if anything, be comparing Regulus to Ron, who's girlfriend he was trying to steal. But Harry didn't. He remembered that Regulus had once been the Slytherin Seeker. He'd won quite a lot of games for his team. He'd been in that 'Slug Club' as well. An excellent student all round, who'd also found time to be a Death Eater and a massive fan of Voldemort. Harry watched Regulus's discomfort and didn't feel entirely sorry for it.

.

"Good Morning, Regulus." Remus smiled at him, nicely. Regulus didn't smile. He slightly tried to and then he pulled his clasped hands apart and offered his right hand to Remus, who gave him another friendly smile before he shook it.

.

"Thank you for saving my life." Regulus said, politely. He sounded like a cross between Sirius and Draco Malfoy, if such a thing could exist. Now Harry thought of it he actually _looked_ like a cross between Sirius and Draco as well.

.

"What you did, stealing the Horcrux and replacing it with a fake, was exceptionally brave." Remus told him, letting the boy pull his hand quickly away, vanishing it back beneath the robe he was wearing.

.

_Who even wore robes away from school? Death Eater-wanabees,_ Harry thought. Maybe he would like Regulus better if he wasn't 'upstairs' with Hermione all the time. He had _wanted_ to like Regulus.

.

"…Hermione said you were the best teacher she ever had." Regulus added, abruptly.

"I wasn't." Remus rebuffed it, rather firmly.

"He was." Harry interjected, quite surprised at the shortness. "By far and away the best."

"Well, that's good." Regulus said. "Marvellous. If you don't mind, I was just in the middle of…"

"What?" Sirius interrupted at once. "What were you in the middle of?"

"I was… trying to sort my bedroom out." Regulus said, pale cheeks blushing pink. "James has turned it into some Muggle little girls room."

.

"Can I come and help?" Harry asked, finally. Regulus looked round at him, trying to think of the most appropriate was to say 'no, you can't'.

"Of course you can!" Sirius said. "I want to see your funny bedroom too! Come on Harry. Remus?" But Remus wouldn't come and harass Sirius's little brother. He stayed at the table, sipping Sirius's Butterbeer in the hopes that it would ease his headache.

"At least the walls aren't pink." Sirius pointed out, trying not to laugh at the girlish and very Muggle décor James had transferred from Number Thirteen, Grimmauld Place.

"They _were_ pink." Regulus told him, frostily, accepting a handful of newspaper cuttings from Hermione. "Thank you, Hermione. It's very kind."

"She is very kind, isn't she?" Sirius grinned, sitting on his brother's pink metal bed. "You are now a S.P.E.W. member I hope, Reggie? Are you going to keep this lovely bed?"

"No, you may have it." Regulus told him. "It's much more 'your style', Siri."

"It's splendid." Sirius laughed. "See how the scroll work on the headboard curls into the shapes of hearts, and look a metal crown above your head, for the 'little king'."

.

"I bet James didn't do this to _your_ room." Regulus said, crossly. "And I can sort it out by myself, thank you."

"I've kept you all morning." Hermione jumped up from a bright pink desk.

"No. I meant Siri." Regulus stammered, standing up again, at once. "He probably told James to do this. I'm so grateful to you, Hermione. You had no reason to do any of this for me."

"Any of _what?"_ Sirius asked. "I thought you were 'un-decorating'."

"And Ron has been looking for you, Hermione." Harry said. "He's not happy."

"He's at a Cannons game." Hermione said. "With Fred and George. Did you want anything, Harry? Because we were actually in the middle of something."

"The game's finishing." Harry told her. "He wanted us to go over for dinner."

.

Hermione did not look fooled, although she did look embarrassed. "I'd better get on with sorting out this ludicrous room." Regulus pointed out. "I took your whole morning. I'm awfully sorry." _You are even posher than Draco_, Harry thought. _Why would Hermione be impressed with you? And you're a Death Eater._ He resisted the urge to ask Regulus if he knew Hermione was Muggle-born and waited while they said an awkward goodbye before escorting her out of the room.

.

.

"Wow, Reggie." Sirius said, listening to them walking down the newly carpeted stairs. "How inappropriate are you?"

"We were just talking." Regulus assured him, blushing scarlet. "She was explaining everything that's happened over the last nineteen years."

"Did she like your Dark Mark?" Sirius asked, turning his head to watch Regulus's face. "Did she tell you the Snatchers caught her and tortured her?" Regulus shook his head, picking up one of the newspaper cuttings Hermione had folded.

"I'm not a Death Eater, Siri." He said, quietly. "It was just a mistake."

"And Muggle-born is fine when it bats it's eyelashes at you?" Regulus didn't say anything. He put the paper back down and turned to face his brother, lying on the pink bed.

"I don't know, Siri." He said, finally. "I don't really know anything, anymore. I know I don't want to live in a world ruled by Muggles, where magical folk have to live in hiding. I don't want the magic to be diluted with Muggle blood till it is all lost."

"And you shared that with Hermione, did you?" Sirius asked him.

"No." Regulus shook his head. "I think Hermione's pretty amazing. I didn't know they'd caught her, or hurt her. That she'll even speak to me after that is amazing, isn't it. She is rather amazing."

.

"She's even more of a smug know-it-all than you are." Sirius told him. "But she's also the property of my Godson, the legendary Harry Potter. So we are clear you're going to keep your nice pure blood away from her, aren't you? And all your other body fluids as well."

"You're disgusting." Regulus grimaced at him. "And she said Harry was 'like a brother' to her. She's going out with his friend, Ron."

"At the moment." Sirius said. "But she loves Harry. And she only tolerates you because she thinks you love house-elves as much as she does."


	31. Chapter 31

It rained on Bellatrix Lestrange's funeral. Her husband and brother-in-law, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, known Death Eaters, were still at large and unsurprisingly chose not to attend. Her sisters, Narcissa and Andromeda, had both brought their families to see the body placed into the Earth. Both seemed to show a genuine desire to put the terrible events of the war behind them. And both seemed keen to believe that their once vivacious and beautiful sister had been placed under a sinister enchantment by Voldemort, or that her evil deeds were nothing more than tragic insanity. Harry certainly didn't believe Bellatrix had been mad. No, he _did_ believe she had been mad, but that was not excuse enough for what she had done. What Bellatrix had done to Neville's parents. The day he had seen Neville with his mother in the closed ward of St. Mungo's, for the only time in his entire life, he had thanked God that Voldemort had killed his mother out-right.

.

His eyes returned to the polished wood of the casket, the waxy lilies and blood red roses resting over the dark wood. He wanted to spit on that casket. He wanted Padfoot to come and cock his leg against the carved marble headstone. They didn't even know Sirius had survived. He felt so angry.

.

He tried to remind himself that they had won. He had won. More than won. Voldemort was dead and he, Harry, had Sirius and his father back alive, with a Time-turner that they were using to save other dead people. And Bellatrix had killed herself.

.

Across the grave Andromeda, with Teddy in her arms, cried for her dead sister. The memory of Bellatrix murdering her only child was now vanished from her mind. Harry wasn't even sure that Dora believed it had once been like that, anymore.

.

Poor crazy Bella.

.

Dora was standing beside her mother, grim faced, brown haired. Remus, next to her, looked ill. Maybe he, like Harry, was remembering what Bella was really like. He thought about the look on her face as she'd flung the knife into Dobby's chest. The words carved forever in pale scars on Hermione's flesh. Sirius vanishing through the veil.

.

Sirius was alive, he reminded himself. It was okay, because Sirius was alive. Maybe his dad could go and save Dobby as well? Was there anything James couldn't do? He glanced around the graveyard for a loitering black dog and an invisible wizard, but there was nothing but graves and sunshine, and so he turned back to make sure he watched the earth packed over Bellatrix Lestranges coffin.

.

On the front steps of Twelve Grimmauld Place, Hermione looked at her watch, sure Bellatrix was at this very moment being covered over with earth. The scar on her arm ached slightly as she remembered, and she rapped sharply on the door. It was opened by Harry's dad, James, toasted sandwich clenched carefully between his teeth, as he juggled a large dusty book, the Elder Wand, and the multiple locks. 'Mr Potter' seemed entirely inappropriate for someone who looked barely older than Harry himself, but equally she felt rather shy about calling him James.

.

Sirius, who she had no quarms about calling 'Sirius', was flung in the armchair in the corner of the kitchen. He still looked excessively handsome. His hair was too short to be tied back and too long to keep out of his face. Without raising his head he watched her through half closed eyes, lashes so long and black she couldn't have recreated them with make-up. It shouldn't annoy her, but it did. A lot. He had bare feet as well, and he was drinking from a bottle of Muggle beer, lips tightly sealed around it to keep the liquid from spilling over his face, due to his overly reclined position.

.

"Toasted sandwich?" James asked, putting the book back on the table and licking his finger to turn the page. Hermione declined.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Sirius asked. Hermione decided everything about his demeanour and the question suggested he was drunk.

"They're having a party." She told him. "A 'Weasley Wizards, Wicked Witch is Dead' Party." Sirius's lips curled into an amused smile.

"Oh, I might go to that." He considered.

"Just stay there and be good." James told him, lips curling into an amused quirk. A single angular eyebrow rose at Sirius's scowl until he slumped again with a sigh.

"So bored." He complained. "Want to go and cock my leg against her grave."

.

"Is Regulus upstairs?" Hermione asked, deciding she was going to ignore this.

"Yes, but don't bother him." Sirius said. "Weird day for him. Harry'll be back soon. He'll be glad you came to see him. Have a Butterbeer."

"I'm fine, thank you." Hermione put the bottle on the table.

"My toasted sandwiches are excellent." James offered again, taking a bite of his own, before running his fingers down the page he was reading and underlining a paragraph. Hermione couldn't see what he was reading because the book was upside down and the writing tiny. She could see it was runes.

.

"Actually, I would like that toasted sandwich." She said. "If you don't mind."

"Not at all." James assured her. "Excellent!" He marked his place in the weighty tome and went over to the new shiny range cooker, acquired from Number Eleven Grimmauld Place.

"And I'll just drop these newspapers off for Regulus." She added quickly, and took herself back out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

.

Regulus's room was green again. The furniture again plain wood. He had kept a single string of fairy lights, from the room's moment as a pink princess boudoir. Each light was encased in a tuft of cerise feathers, and they dangled from his curtain rail.

.

"Sorry to bother you." Hermione said, briskly. "I brought over those papers from the archives."

"Thank you." Regulus stood up. He always stood up. Hermione wondered if good manners had been drilled into him as a child, and if so, how Sirius had managed to eradicate them in himself so successfully.

"Well. I was coming over to see Harry anyway." Hermione said, briskly. "He's not back yet. James is making me a sandwich… Have you eaten?"

.

Something about his tired pale face suggested he really had not. Regulus pushed his black hair behind his ears and smiled at her. "I would probably find it had spiders in. Mine, not yours." He added, to reassure her.

"Did Kreacher make any more soup?" Hermione asked.

"I told him not to." Regulus admitted, adding more quietly, "Every time he goes into the kitchen he remembers what Sirius said and starts trying to hit himself. I felt, really, that I had to, so I have ordered him not to go down there again." Hermione nodded, watching him tuck his hands into his robes, looking serious and awkward.

"Will you come down and have a sandwich?" She asked.

.

"Wicked Witch is Dead." Sirius said, watching Hermione sharing the toasted sandwich with Regulus, who paused over his first mouthful, meeting Sirius's gaze.

.

"I am aware, Siri." He said. "I don't know what to say. It's hard to feel sympathy for someone who tried to murder my brother and who was clearly a psychopath. I do feel sorry for the people who did care about her but I am not one of those people. I am not dancing on her grave, Siri, but I am very glad that there is one less person like that in the world."

"I'm going to dance on her grave later." Sirius said. "...Moony will come with me." He addressed this last remark to James, who ignored it entirely, marking another passage of runes in his book. "…Harry will."

"Neither of them will come with you to dance on anyone's grave." James told him, attention still directed firmly at the book. "The woman's dead, Sirius. There are plenty more Death Eaters to track down."

"I might bring her back to life again, and push _her_ through the veil in the Death Chamber."

"And that is why you aren't allowed to wear the Time-turner." James said, amused.

"I'm bored." Sirius complained again. "I hate this house." James ignored him, totally.

"...Before we met." Hermione said to Regulus, at the table. "I imagined you would be like Sirius, but younger."

"Mentally younger than Sirius and I'd need a potty." Regulus said, lightly. Hermione tried not to choke on her sandwich. Regulus looked over at Sirius, who returned a narrow eyed scowl of good humoured contempt. "…When you're older, Siri." Regulus told him. "You can learn to read, and then you'll never be bored again."

"You joined the _Death Eaters_." Sirius told him.

"And he was willing to die, to bring Voldemort down." Hermione said, fiercely. "You should be proud of him, Sirius."

"_Everyone _is proud of Reggie." Sirius yawned, closing his eyes again.

.

Regulus looked at him for a moment before turning back to Hermione who reached across the table and touched his hand. It was meant to be a friendly gesture, but she realised it felt, or at least looked, like more. Regulus didn't move his hand away, he looked up at her, grey eyes widening in surprise. And it was at that moment that Harry decided to walk into the kitchen.


	32. Chapter 32

"Well that was bloody awful!" Tonks said loudly, half out of her jacket as she crashed into a stalled Harry, at the bottom of the stairs. "Mind if we join you for a cuppa, boys? Looks like you've side-stepped another stay in Azkaban, Sirius."

"She jumped out of a window." Sirius growled, without lifting his head off the arm of the chair. "I had a witness."

"Of course she did." Tonks said, going to the cupboard where Sirius kept his beers and passing them out. "Anyway, no one knows who you are and the case is going to be closed. No one wants to delve. Mum doesn't wish to speak to you though."

"I don't wish to speak to her." Sirius said, although Hermione noticed he flushed slightly; maybe from the number of people listening, maybe just because he was drunk. Regulus's cheeks had coloured when Hermione had seen Harry in the doorway and whipped her hand off his. Hermione was sure Harry had noticed.

.

"Where's Ron?" He asked, pulling out the chair next to Hermione and sitting down.

"They're having a 'Weasley Wizards Wicked Witch is Dead party'." Hermione told him. "In as bad taste as possible. Although I imagine it will have finished rather promptly when Molly got home."

"She's stayed with Andromeda." Harry told her, frostily. "Shall we go?"

"I told Ron I didn't want to celebrate anyone's death." Hermione told him, quietly. "_Anyones._ I've had enough of death to last a life time." She accidentally caught Regulus's eyes, which he dropped firmly to study the pattern on his plate. Harry noticed it at once, bristling further.

.

"Well I told Ginny that we'd go back there." He said, firmly. "Did you bring a coat?"

"What?" Hermione asked him, incredulously.

"You came here to see me, didn't you?" Harry pointed out. "I'm going over to The Burrow. Why wouldn't you come?"

"Actually I came to give Regulus some newspaper articles about the changes in Wizard inheritance laws in the nineteen eighties."

.

"You wanted copies of _what_?" Sirius asked, dropping heavily over his brother.

"I was just interested." Regulus said, trying to push him off. "Honestly, Sirius, I was just… I want to know what's happened in the world while I've been gone. I wanted to work in the Department of Magical Records before, remember."

"I remember you wanted to be a Death Eater." Sirius told him. "Why don't you go to the party? Or are you not invited, Reggie? Do they not want a Slytherin Death Eater there? Because I think the Weasley brothers might have a lot of fun with you."

"Or you could go, Siri." Regulus said, knocking his brother away. "Seeing as you look about twelve."

.

"Neither of you can leave the house till we've got some false identities for you." James reminded them, using the Elder wand to slice tomatoes and flick bread, cheese and ham about the kitchen. "The laws on stealing people out of time are very specific and would work out badly for all of us."

"Oh, unlucky, Reggie." Sirius mocked. "You two go have fun at your party, Harry. Looks like me and Reggie need to have a chat about inheritance laws, anyway."

"It wasn't about our inheritance." Regulus said, calmly. Sirius smiled at him.

"'Our' inheritance?" He asked. "Or 'my' inheritance?"

"Well really both of yours." Hermione pointed out. "If you're both officially alive…"  
"Which we're not." Sirius reminded her.

"Oh, then everything still belongs to Harry." Hermione said. "Your house, your gold. You gave it all to Harry, Sirius."

"And I give it back." Harry added. "I have my…" And here he paused, because if he gave Sirius back the Black families vaults of gold and the house that he had inherited on Sirius's death, surely he also needed to give back the Potter vaults of gold to James, which would result in him being homeless and penniless.

.

"That's very nice of you." Sirius said, amused. "But I can't see what I'd need it for, unless you're about to kick me out on the street."

"I have been mulling this over." James said, sending his last toasty into the grill and coming back to them. "Harry needs to do his final year at school and Reggie could do with going back there, so he can get some qualifications under his new name. They should both have allowances."

"Alright." Sirius said, glancing at Harry uncertainly.

"I want to finish school." Hermione added. "I have actually spoken to Minerva about a scholarship."

"A what ship?" James asked, interested at once.

"A spaceship." Regulus said, drily.

"Funding." Hermione explained, trying not to smile. "To pay for books and robes."

"You don't have to do that." Sirius assured her, in surprise. "Does she?"  
"No, of course you don't." James agreed.

"Unless you want to." Regulus said, and Harry was sure Hermione had told him all about her discussion with McGonergall and the scholarship she wanted to get.

.

"I wish I could go back to Hogwarts." Sirius sighed.

"And one more de-aging charm and you probably could, Pads." Remus said, squeezing through the increasingly cramped kitchen with a bright grin plastered across his once so weary face.

.

"Where have you been?" Sirius asked, taking Teddy out of his arms. "I hope you stayed to dance on her grave."

"I was changing Teddy." Remus said, with a chuckle. "He took it upon himself to vomit over his funeral attire."

"Good boy." Sirius told him, tickling the babies neck with kisses until Teddy gave a gurgling laugh.

.

"Have you been drinking?" Tonks asked him.

"You just helped yourself to the last of my beer." Sirius reminded her. "I'm sure you know I've been drinking, while you have been mourning your would-be murderer."

"Please don't hold my baby when you've been drinking." Tonks said, lifting Teddy firmly out of his arms. "I'm sure this is a strange day for you as well, but I don't see the point in punishing a clearly mad woman for crimes she _potentially_ would have committed in some other alternate reality. We're both alive, Sirius, and she isn't. Your brother is just as guilty of being a Death Eater and I don't see you throwing him out of any windows."

"He really didn't throw her out of the window." Remus said.

"I wouldn't have made it that quick." Sirius said. "As she clearly realised, when she chose to jump." Remus sighed, quietly. In his mothers arms, Teddy started to howl loudly. "Want me to take him back?" Sirius suggested, with a shamelessly smug grin.

.

"Don't touch my baby." Tonks told him, through clenched teeth. Sirius rested his head lazily against Remus's shoulder and regarded her with a petulant smile.

"...What annoys me." He said. "Is why your baby had a 'funeral outfit' for a woman who would have happily caved his head in, against the nearest wall, if she'd ever had the opportunity to hold him… Even stone cold sober."

"Well…" Tonks said as calmly as she could. "…You be annoyed about that, Sirius. You be annoyed about whatever you want. But _you don't hold my baby when you've been drinking_. Okay?"

.

"So, Hogwarts, yes?" James said, firmly.

"Yes." Hermione said. "Would you, I mean, you'll be nineteen in September, Reggie. Would you want to go back?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Sirius said, moving his attention warily back to his brother and Hermione. "It's hardly low profile. I think just Harry and Hermione should go."

"He's been dead for twenty years." James pointed out. "It'll be fine. And then he can get a job, in the Department of Records, and try to steal your inheritance, Pads."

"Ron isn't going back." Harry said, finally. "He's going to run Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes with Fred and George."

"Great. That's him sorted then." Sirius pointed out. "But you want to be an Auror, Harry, and Hermione wants to… wants to… study many dusty books, maybe forever."

.

Hermione glanced at Regulus, who smiled slightly. As he was studying the pattern on his plate again, Harry wasn't sure how he knew Hermione had looked at him, but he definitely did. And Harry didn't know what Hermione wanted to do with her life now that Voldemort was dead and Harry wasn't dragging her round the country in a tent. It was weird that he didn't know what she wanted to do, considering they'd spent so long living together in the tent. It was messed up that she'd decided to talk about it privately with Regulus Black. Harry was certain now, he had to do something about this.


	33. Chapter 33

James was again reading a book on time-travel and eating. James never stopped eating or reading. Harry had been under the definite impression that his father did not consider studying 'cool' so the endless reading had been a bit of a surprise. Sirius was again slumped on the armchair in the corner of the room, like a large, and human, puppy. Head sunk onto the chairs arm, gazing into space. Harry found himself starting to grin if he looked at Sirius for too long, but Sirius didn't notice, because he was entirely focused on sulking.

.

Sirius was sulking because it was a Saturday, which meant Tonks was not at work and so he was definitely not welcome around Remus's house. The 'not welcome' was entirely reasonable because Sirius was awful to Tonks. Funny, but awful. He antagonised her whenever she had the misfortune to be in his presence. And Remus, in Harry's private opinion, did very little to stop him; although Sirius was quite hard to stop when he decided to be awful. He had been hard to stop when he was bitter and sickly, pacing about the old Grimmauld Place like a very depressed inferi. Now he alternated between hilariously sulky or relentlessly upbeat, but always very funny, and very difficult to stop, either way.

.

The de-aging charm, that he had claimed would wear off, hadn't. His rather blatant good looks were starting to attract a string of astonishingly random female admirers. Percy Weasley's actual girlfriend, Penelope, had taken to visiting the house every single day after work, to bring Sirius the Daily Prophet, because he wasn't meant to leave the house himself.

.

Sirius did leave the house. He left it most days. He either went to Remus's house, while Tonks was at work, or Remus brought Teddy round to Grimmauld Place and they often went out together. But Penelope still brought Sirius the paper, daily. Arabella Figg, Harry's batty old squib neighbour, adored Sirius and supplied him with a cat-Keezle cross, named Mr Drummond, to keep him company. Sirius may or may not have asked for Mr Drummond as he and did seem to quite like the cat, although it was always James or Arabella who fed and cared for it.

.

Katie Bell, Harry's old Quidditch teammate came to the house now, at least twice a week, usually on the pretence of visiting Harry. But it _was_ a pretence and Harry was well aware of it. Even the Patil twins, who were _the same age as _Harry, had apparently both thought Sirius was wonderful, and they had only come to the house with Hermione. Hermione, deeply irritated, had declined to invited them round again.

.

Hermione was the only girl, that Harry knew, who did not think Sirius was wonderful. Even Ginny, who Harry liked to believe did not lust after his Godfather, liked Sirius an awful lot. Luna, when she had come to see Harry earlier in the week, had told Sirius he was 'more beautiful than a Heliopath'.

.

Hermione, who had also been with them at the time, assured Harry and Sirius that while Heliopath's did not exist their name suggested something unpleasant, like sunburn. Hermione had had to bite her tongue, not one of her strong suits, and walk out of the room, when Luna proceeded to explain to Sirius exactly what the fierce yet beautiful Heliopaths looked like. Sirius had thought this was hilarious. Hermione had actually been rather furious and had slammed up the stairs to lock herself away in Regulus's room.

.

And no, Hermione was not the only woman unmoved by Sirius's obvious charms. Tonks, with good reason, hated his guts. But everyone else, young or old, seemed to love him. Harry loved him, as well; although Harry had good reason to, what with Sirius being his Godfather and having clearly loving him fiercely and unerringly from the day they'd met.

.

"…Harry, are those two way mirrors around?" James asked, pulling his eyes out of his book. Sirius lifted his eyes to them both, clearly not thinking about it very hard.

"...They got broke." Harry said. "After Sirius gave them to me. I'm sorry." James didn't say anything. They had already established that Sirius had given Harry the penknife that opened sealed doors, and that Harry had broken it. That Sirius had given Harry the greatest broomstick it was possible to give a godson, and Harry had lost it. That Sirius had given Harry a house elf, which Harry had failed to chastise for murdering him. Sirius had given Harry his gold, his house, his everything. Mostly Sirius had given him love, when James and Lily couldn't and Petunia hadn't. Harry loved Sirius as much as everyone else, but he was sure his own love was entirely more logical and justified than anyone elses.

.

There was a knock at the door. Sirius sighed again. James frowned, quickly turning another page in his book. "Reggie!" Sirius yelled, as loudly as he could. "Door, Reggie!" James grimaced at the volume, taking another bite of toast. They all listened to Regulus pattering down the stairs to the door.

.

A moment later Remus appeared in the kitchen, Teddy as ever, curled in his arms. Sirius perked up at once, delighted. "I thought you were another girl!" He said. "Harry has an _endless_ stream of girls coming to the house."

"I thought you were still seeing Ginny?" Remus said, in surprise.  
"_I am_." Harry assured him. "I don't think they're coming to see _me_." Remus comprehended. He looked over Sirius for a moment before passing Teddy into his impatient arms and pulling off his jacket.

"They probably are, Harry." He said. "You are the hero of the century... I hope you don't mind us bothering you at the weekend." Remus added, sitting down. "Dora wanted to talk to you, Pads."

"Dora wants to talk to me?" Sirius asked; pausing mid-kiss of the chuckling babies neck. "…Well, that's splendid!" He exclaimed, adopting mock brightness. James used his wand to slide another chair out from the table as Dora appeared in the doorway.

.

"How's things, Sirius?" She asked, looking at her baby for a moment before finding Sirius's eyes. "Can I pick your brains?"

"If you wish." Sirius said, settling back in his armchair and putting the baby on his chest. He watched Teddy attempting press-up with his wobbly arms.

"It's about Azkaban." Dora added. "Remus love, why don't you take Teddy for a minute?"

"He's fine." Sirius said, curling his arm around the baby at once. "Let's 'talk about Azkaban'."

"I'm sure it's not pleasant to have to." Dora said, as business-like as she could be. "But now people know that it _is_ possible to escape from Azkaban, a lot more prisoners are trying to do it. Simply believing it was inescapable was enough to stop most from trying."

.

"So, you've let Death Eaters escape from Azkaban, and it's my fault?" Sirius asked. "..._It is always my fault."_ He whispered in Teddy's ear, his tickling breath making the baby chuckle. Dora watched and ignored it.

"So..." She said. "Assuming you don't want any Death Eaters escaping, either."

"Cup of tea, Dora?" James interrupted.

"No, thank you." Dora said. "Assuming you don't want them to escape, Sirius, could you tell me how you managed it."

.

Dora waited. Sirius stroked the downy hair on the back of Teddy's neck. James tapped the table with the tip of his quill. "If you don't want to…" Remus said, breaking the lengthy silence.

"You don't want Death Eaters escaping, Sirius." Dora pressed him. "Tell me how you did it."

"…Some other time." James said, jumping up and scooping the baby off Sirius's lap.

.

Scooping Teddy off Sirius was never a good move. He was off the chair in a flash, carefully taking Teddy back. "Remus, take Teddy." Dora told him, calmly. Sirius glared, glared but carried Teddy across the kitchen and passed him over to his mother; the glare was actually leveled on Remus. And then he stalked out of the kitchen.

.

"...He's stressed." James said, with a shrug. "I'll talk to him." He took another bite of toast and wiped the tapped ink off the table with a finger.

"This is actually quite important." Dora pointed out, attempting to adopt patience she didn't really have. "Remus, take Teddy out, _please_."

"No." Remus said, looking from his wife to James intently for a moment, before heading up the stairs.

.

James carefully marked the place in his tome and took the Elder Wand out, before heading after them. Dora gave an exasperated sigh and followed Harry and James up the stairs. Hermione (and who even knew she was in the house) and Regulus had come down the stairs to see what was going on too, because Sirius and Remus had embarked on a hissy row in the hallway.

.

"_Leave me alone_!" Sirius growled, no longer bothering to keep his voice down.

"I haven't done anything." Remus told him, earnestly. "I promise you I haven't."

"_I said to leave me alone_!" Sirius warned him again, shoving Remus back.

.

Although Harry hadn't the faintest idea what they were arguing about. Sirius never talked about Azkaban so he wasn't actually surprised that Sirius was upset, or that he was upset with Remus rather than Dora. What actually surprised him, that was distinctly strange about this row was not anything Remus or Sirius were doing. Sirius and Remus did row. It was impossible to spend as much time with Sirius as Remus did without rowing. It wasn't even that this was vastly more than Sirius's usual bickering. What was strange was that _James_ _hadn't shouted at them;_ not one word. And James _always_ shouted at them. He _was_ there. Harry looked round to check, but James was staying in the doorway; silent.

.

"This is clearly a bad time." Dora conceded. "We'll go."

"_Good_!" Sirius growled, _so_ upset that Harry's confusion grew to incomprehensible levels, and still James did _nothing, _nothing to bring the situation under control.

"Take Teddy home." Remus said, attention firmly on Sirius, who was now staring intently at Regulus and Hermione.

"Siri…? What is it?" Regulus asked.

.

For the second time since Regulus had returned, Sirius flung himself into his brothers arms; this time burying his face in Regulus neck and sobbing.

"_Sirius_!" Remus leaped up the stairs, catching the back of his jumper, trying unsuccessfully to pull him back. "Sirius, what's wrong!?"

"I said..." Sirius shouted. "_Go! Away!"_

"I don't know..." Remus told him, as confused as Harry. "Sirius…? What…?"

.

Sirius lifted his face off his brother, looking back at Remus for a moment. He looked, Harry thought, _devastated._

.

And still James did nothing at all.

.

"...Right." Harry said, realising it was slightly left to him. "You'd better come back later then, Remus." That wasn't what James would have said, but he wasn't James and for some reason James was saying nothing.

.

Remus looked round at Harry, as if he'd grown a second head, and then he swung right round and looked at James as well. Comprehension widened his eyes before he spun round, flying up the stairs and snatching Sirius out of his brothers arms.

.

"_I_ didn't do anything." He assured Sirius, fiercely. "I promise you, _I_ didn't."

.

Harry still didn't have a single clue what was going on. Dora, who's patience with Sirius had been spent long ago, watched her husband embracing him for a moment, before walking down the hall and fastening Teddy into his pram. She left without uttering a single further word.

.

Remus took Sirius away to his room and Hermione exchanged a bemused glance, with _Regulus. _James exited back to the kitchen and Harry stalked after him, finding him again in front of his book, dipping a biscuit in his tepid coffee.

.

"Well?!" Harry demanded, pulling out a chair opposite him. James looked up, thoughtfully. "I know that Remus meant _you'_d done something." Harry assured him. "And Sirius will know he did as well. What have you done? Did you _tell_ Dora to ask about Azkaban? You don't know what Sirius was like afterwards. He wasn't alright. He shouldn't have to talk about it! Probably ever!"

.

"What was he like afterward Azkaban?" James asked, putting down his quill and pressing his fingers into a bony steeple, how Harry had seen Dumbledore do, many times. Harry looked his young father squarely in the eyes.

"He was not alright." He said. "Two years afterwards he was still not alright. You have no idea. He didn't eat. He didn't look after himself and when he was alone in the house… He was very depressed and miserable."

"And now he's happy." James said. He considered for a moment before breaking a biscuit in half and biting it. "…I used some spells." He said, quietly. "The de-aging spell did wear off. Had you not noticed that? He does look at least… twenty nine, thirty? How old was he when he died?"

"Trust me, you have _no idea_ what he was like when he died." Harry assured him.

"You were fifteen?" James asked. "So Sirius was... thirty three? I think he looks about thirty three, at a push?"

"No. He looked like an _inferi."_ Harry told him. "He looked terrible. Even when Remus or Molly made him eat and dress, he was just a shell of what he's like now."  
"Yes." James agreed. _"I know._ I know all that, Harry. Because I _obliviated his memory. I have made him better!"_


	34. Chapter 34

Remus stroked Sirius's hair, listening to his friends sobs, against his neck. "…James did it?" Sirius asked, miserably. Remus just nodded, letting Sirius cry in the absolute privacy of the dark room. "...But _you_ knew." He added, sadly. "You knew and you just_ didn't tell me_."

"No, of course I didn't know." Remus said. "I just thought that you were happy that he was alive. What... What parts don't you remember, Pads?"

"Well,_ I don't know, do I_?" Sirius pointed out, trying to sound less choked up about it. He pressed his face back against Remus's shirt and closed his eyes again. "…But not Azkaban. I know I went there. I probably remember James telling me... Maybe reading newspaper cuttings about it? But I don't remember Azkaban at all."

.

"_Twelve years_ of Confundus charms?"

"Obliviate." Sirius said. "I don't remember _anything_."

"Alright... Don't worry." Remus assured him. He sounded impressively calm, considering how he actually felt. "Do you remember the Muggles dying in the street, when you caught up with Peter…? ...Do you remember going to Godric's Hollow...?"

.

"Going to Godric's Hollow, when?" Sirius asked, cautiously.

"Afterwards." Remus said. "…Before? ...At all?"

"I remember going to Godric's Hollow." Sirius said. "I remember Harry being as small as Teddy. But I don't actually _remember_ James dying. I remember going back for him, with the Time-turner. But I think James told me what happened. That he and Lily were killed... That I went to Azkaban... That I went back and saved him... I don't think I actually remember any of it."

.

"That's thirteen years then." Remus said, calmly. "And afterwards? Do you remember Peter escaping?"

"From where?" Sirius asked.

"From us." Remus said. "Outside the Shrieking Shack? After I found you?"

.

Sirius sighed, eventually moving his hand and putting it in Remus's hair, playing with it. Remus closed his eyes for a moment, focused on remaining calm. "..._You_ found me, after I got out of Azkaban?" Sirius asked.

"Yes." Remus said. "No." He corrected. "No. You went to find Harry and Peter. When I found you _I transformed, _Sirius_._ I nearly killed everyone, even Harry, and I let Peter escape. There were Dementors. I nearly got you killed by them, as well."

"Right. Well, I definitely don't remember _any_ of that." Sirius said. "I suppose James couldn't tell me about it, not having been there himself... It sounds _eventful..._ What happened after that?"

"We went away." Remus said. "Because I let Peter escape, there was no proof you were innocent. But you went back to watch over Harry, because he'd been entered in the Triwizard Tournament. You thought he was in danger. You remember that, though, don't you?"

"No."

"Right…

.

"...You wouldn't stay out of your animangus form, at all really." Remus said, calmly enough to make Sirius's lip curl, despite how utterly sickened he felt.

"So, I was quite crazy?" He concluded.

"No, you were very unhappy." Remus said. "…you were also quite crazy. But you were right about Harry being in danger. He nearly died. Voldemort returned. Which you do remember, don't you, Pads?"  
"I know Voldemort returned." Sirius said. "I remember him being back but, no, I am pretty sure I don't actually remember him returning."

"Right..." Remus said. "Right..." He was not actually sure how long he could stay calmly stroking Sirius's hair and assuring him it was alright. He started from the other side of the timeline. "Do you remember living with me after the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Yes." Sirius said. "In Grimmauld Place."

"No. In my house." Remus said. "Dumbldore told you to lie low... You remember coming and staying with me, before you opened Grimmauld Place up for the Order to use, don't you, _Sirius? _Don't you...?" He knew he didn't sound calm anymore, at all. "Sirius, do you remember any of that time?"

"No. And I don't remember _going to_ Grimmauld Place... But I do remember being there, before James changed it." He elaborated, quietly. "I remember being mind-blowingly depressed and anxious all the time… I was frightened of being on my own. So frightened whenever it was quiet. Humiliating and awful feelings... And _you_ went away."

"Werewolf Missions." Remus said. "For Dumbledore." Sirius didn't say anything.

.

"Do you remember Bellatrix trying to knock you through the veil?" Remus asked.  
"Oh, yes. Very well." Sirius assured him. He'd just opened his mouth to speak again when a distinctly 'James' knock, tapped on the door.

"Mine." Remus said, sitting up at once. "Wait here." He flashed Sirius a gentle smile, before stepping into the hall and throwing James into the wall.

.

.

"…_Stop_!" James warned him, struggling to get the Elder Wand free as Remus dragged him upright to fling him at the stairwell. "_I mean it! Stop it!_" James yelled, loudly enough to bringing Sirius rushing out of the room. Sparing barely a moment to stare in astonishment, Sirius dived in, catching Remus and dragging him back.

.

"_It's fine_!" Sirius yelled, in disbelief. "_I'm alive! I'm okay, Remus! I'd_ _have probably killed myself, if I'd carried on feeling like that_!"

"_Let go of me_!" Remus snarled, chucking Sirius away. "_Go back in that room and stay there_!"

"_No_!" Sirius assured him, laughing in shock, as he tried to drag Remus back.

.

"_I am going to kill you_!" Remus snarled at James, as Harry scrambled up the stairs and Regulus and Hermione fell out of the door in the middle of the fight, staring from James to Remus in bewilderment.

.

"You're not going to kill me!" James assured him, brandishing the Elder Wand triumphantly. "You're going to calm down!"

"_You obliviated fourteen years of his mind_!" Remus screamed at him, ripping Sirius off him again and very nearly throwing him down the stairs.

"He was suicidal!" James shouted back, crossly. "He was miserable and I 'made him feel better'!"

"But you _should_ have told me." Sirius pointed out, struggling to keep Remus and James apart.

"If I _had_ told you, _you wouldn't remember I had, anyway!_" James pointed out. Remus snarled, ripping free of Sirius again. "And you, calm down!" James shouted at him. "I _should_ have asked you, Pads." He agreed. "And I'm sure you would have told me to do it. But _you didn't even notice._ It's actually almost impossible to remember things you don't rem…"

.

He hit the far door with a crash as Remus used a wandless spell, knocking him backwards. "…Protego!" James said. "Thanks for that, Remus. I was saying; Sirius, that you can't remember not remembering!"

"_Fourteen years_!" Remus roared at him. "_You selfish, stupid_…!"

"_This isn't helping!_" Sirius exploded.

"_Go in there_!" Remus flung him at the bedroom door again.

"Much as I like it when you're forceful…" Sirius laughed. "_I'm fine_. I'm probably a lot finer than I would be if he hadn't done it."

"_Fourteen years!_" Remus snarled again. "_Both in the same boat now, aren't you, you selfish shit_!"

.

"I'm not selfish." James said, offended. "He wasn't alright. Sirius knows I did it for him, don't you, Pads?"

"Yeah." Sirius said. "I don't doubt it, Prongs."

.

"You burnt out his _memory_!" Remus said.

"For him!" James cried. "Sirius understands. We understand each other. We're alike! You love your misery, Remus. But Sirius didn't want to remember his."  
.

"_You have been dead for sixteen years_!" Remus shouted at him. "_You were dead! There hasn't been 'Sirius and you' for sixteen years_. _You got married, you went into hiding, and then you died!_"

"Sadly!" James pointed out. "And some friend you turned out to be, to him. You left him in Azkaban for _twelve years, Remus!"_

.

"I don't want to do this in front of my little brother." Sirius pronounced, abruptly.

"And I don't want to listen to it." Regulus said, taking Hermione back into his room and closing the door with a click.

.

"…You left him in Azkaban for _twelve years_, Remus." James said again. "You didn't even try and get him a trial. I would _never_ have believed he was guilty. How could you do that? You let them destroy him… I have made him _better..._ He's alright now, and you love him being alright again."

"_I love him either way!_" Remus said, angrily.

"Really?" Sirius said. Remus put a hand back on his arm.

"Obviously, Pads." He said.

"Obviously?"

"Obviously. Even the year when you only turned human to talk to Harry."

.

"Well that's… lovely?" James suggested, quirking an eyebrow. "But you didn't love him enough to believe he was innocent, did you, Remus? You didn't have enough faith in him to know he would _never_ have betrayed me. And you didn't love him much in the twelve years he was losing his mind in Azkaban. _Did you_, Remus!?"

.

"No... I didn't." Remus said. "...Do you know what I said to Sirius about that? After I found out he was innocent?" He said. "When we lived together for two years, trying to come to terms with everything that two wars, prison, your death, and years of misery had done to him, to me, when we were trying to make it better, James? Do you know what I said about everything that had happened?"

"No." James said. "I don't... I didn't actually know that you lived together, Remus."

"No. _And neither does Sirius!_" Remus roared at him. "Because you _obliviated his memory!_"

"Yes." James nodded. "I did. I did because he wasn't alright and I wanted him to feel better. It's very hard to be totally accurate timescale wise, when _that much_ time is involved; even with my skill and the Elder Wand. But I am sorry, for that. And I _have_ made him better. And look, you get on now, Remus." He pointed out. "Excellently. Better probably."

.

Remus's breath left him in an abrupt sigh. The horror actually over-ridding his anger. He didn't want to listen to James, patiently refusing to acknowledge he'd done anything wrong, arguing how he'd actually done something wonderfully clever. He didn't want to speak to James or to look at him. He pushed his hair wearily out of his eyes.

.

"You should go home." James told him, quietly. "To your wife and son. _At least one of us can."_ He wondered if James really thought he was capable of feeling any pity for him, at this moment_.  
_

.

"_Er, no?_" Sirius said. "No. You need to stay, Remus, because I have forgotten everything. You are going to stay, aren't you?"

"No. He can't. Go home and calm down, Remus." James told him. "We need to talk, Pads. I am glad you do know, now. I need to establish exactly what you do and don't remember."

"Well, that's a sensible idea." Sirius said. "I remember visiting Godrick's Hollow when Harry was a baby. After Azkaban, I was here. I remember me and Moony talking to Harry in the fireplace about you, James, and about Occlumacy, which Snivels wouldn't teach him."

"That's… That's not all you remember from those sixteen years?" Remus asked, in a strained voice. Sirius looked at him, considering.

"Date your handy-work from that, James." Sirius said. "Remus, _please don't go home_. Please stay and tell me what I've forgotten."

"Yes." Remus said. "_Of course I will_." Sirius nodded. He sighed, wiped his cheeks again, and pulled Remus back into the privacy of his room.

"You g_o away." _He added to James, although he flashed him a wan smile before pulling the door closed.

.

James shook his head. He noticed Harry still standing at the top of the stairs and put an arm around his shoulders, guiding him back down. "I had to do it." He told him. "As you said, he wasn't alright. Who wants to remember twelve years in Azkaban? And 'what you don't know, can't hurt you', right?"


	35. Chapter 35

**AN: Thank you for reviewing! The feedback you give for every chapter is fantastic.**

**James Potter may have obliviated my ability to spell, unless it's always been this bad. I can't remember ;) I do know the charm is Obliviate not Obliterate, but my spellcheck doesn't and keeps changing it.**

**Thank you Meghsu2002, capctr, Oo LisaA&Mary oO :D, Cat, catdreamer39, Scorily-fan513, red, hule (Bella will be back), Flying Tupperware, i am the Chameleon, Snarky64 :D, FlyForever, georgeweasleyluver4eva, Kazo Sakamari :D, TheName'sBob, Jayni, CrayolaCreation, IellaSilverHeart, Cutiedust, Pakinoor, Alex khalif, littleblondgirl, KT, sinner to saint, To the TARDIS, PotionsForSev, likealoup, JennaJ and Red. This story is for you and I hope you like it. ~ AshNox  
**

**.  
**

"I am very cross with you." Sirius said, wandering into the kitchen the following afternoon. It was Sunday and Kreatcher had cooked his first roast dinner since Sirius had freed him. Regulus wisely ordered the house-elf to disapparate, when he'd heard Sirius coming down the stairs, and now excused himself with two plates.

"I would find your crossness more credible, if you weren't so cheerful." James told him, plating up a meal for Sirius. "Is Remus still going to kill me, or have you managed to talk him round?"  
"I didn't try, Prongs." Sirius told him, brightly. "That's your problem."

"You feel alright though?" Harry asked him. "Don't you remember any of the time we spent together, Sirius?"

"I remember some." Sirius assured him. "And I couldn't love you more, if you were my own flesh and blood. I don't remember meeting you in the Shrieking Shack though, that sounds like it was exciting. Speaking of the Shrieking Shack, Moony said the Aurors are still looking for Snivels. They all think he's still alive. I bet he's getting moldy by now."

"I'm trying to eat." James reminded him.

"So are Snivelly's maggots. Does the thought put you off your dinner, Prongs?" Sirius asked him, with an irrepressible grin.

"There's something wrong with you, if it doesn't." James pointed out, swallowing a hearty mouthful of meat and gravy.

.

Harry, who had watched Snape die in front of him, vomited. He didn't vomit at the table, but he didn't make it all the way up to the bathroom on the landing, either. He fell down on the stairs, banging his knees. His stomach contracted uncontrollably, emptying choking burning stomach contents over the new red carpet.

.

"I'm sorry!" Sirius had his arms around Harry's shoulders at once, Accio-ing a cup of cold water from the table. James clambered awkwardly around them, his hand on Harry's back, rubbing. "I am so so sorry!" Sirius assured him, trying not to laugh. "I didn't mean… So sorry, Harry. I am an idiot."

"You _are_ disgusting, Pads." James told him. "And my son is vastly more sensitive than I am. He has Lily's sensibilities."

"Yeah. I hear you. And I'm sorry, Harry." Sirius assured him. "Have a drink. I'll shut up. I was just trying to make James laugh."

.

"I think it's slightly my fault." Harry blurted out. "That no one has found Snape's body."

"He's in the Shrieking Shack." Sirius said. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

"_No!_" Harry said. He was hampered from getting away from the stinking vomit-soaked carpet by the draped arms and hands patting and rubbing his back, shoulder and now hair.

.

Growing up with never so much as a hug from his aunt of uncle, he still found the Marauder way of perpetually slinging arms around each other, shoving, hugging and generally keeping in constant physical contact, just a little stifling. Even Ginny hugged him less. Harry pushed them both away and moved up a couple of stairs.

.

"Voldemort made his snake kill Professor Snape." Harry told them. "I saw. He gave me his memories. He was on our side all along."

"No, he wasn't." Sirius assured him.

"_Yes. He was_." Harry said. "He gave me his memories."

"He killed Albus." Sirius said.

"But Dumbledore was dying anyway." Harry told him. "Everything Snape did was to help us. He risked his life, again and again, and then he died. He got the sword of Gryffindor to me…"  
"How could he, he was a Slytherin!" Sirius said.

"_At school_." Harry said. "You were both bastards at school. He loved Lily and he kept me safe, _for her. A_nd that you think it's funny that he's dead is _disgusting!_ It was probably a blessed relief for him, he was so unhappy!"

.

"...We were actually both very well liked in school." James said. "And I devoted my life to fighting against Voldemort. Sirius actually nearly killed Voldemort, twice, in the First War and… And neither me nor Sirius think it's funny, Harry. A lot of our friends have died. We have been fighting a war against Voldemort since we were school boys. We learned the painful way that you can't get too emotional about every death, because otherwise you crack up."  
.

"And I really did just hate Snape." Sirius stated simply, but with feeling. "He _wasn't_ on our side. He got your mother killed. Just like _he got James killed._ And he also got me killed, I know, because Remus said so last night."

"He didn't." Harry said. "And he did everything he could to stop Lily getting killed."

"_He did no such thing!"_ Sirius interrupted, angrily. "They died because _he_ told Voldemort to kill you, their baby! It was him. He as good as killed them himself! He deserved a life of misery and a horrible lonely death! And that he found it in the Shrieking Shack is _quite fitting_."  
"_Because that's where you tried to kill him, when you were at school_?!" Harry demanded, wishing as he said it that he wasn't making Sirius repeat it.

"Yes!" Sirius agreed. "Indeed! And think how happy your life would have been if I'd managed it." He added. "Snape told Voldemort to _kill you all._ _He killed…_ He got your parents killed, Harry… We_ hate him; I hate him so much._"

.

"Of course Sirius wasn't trying to actually kill him, at school." James added, pushing his glasses up his nose. "It was just a very rash act. _Wasn't it?_" Sirius blinked at him, silvery eyes disbelieving.

"…If you like." He said, finally.

.

"I will show you the memories!" Harry said. "You'll see he was on our side."

"No, _I will laugh at his pathetic-ness_." Sirius said and he actually looked like he might.

.

"No one will laugh." James said. "Harry, what did you mean about Snape's death being your fault?"

"No... No. Not his death." Harry said, although he was pretty certain this wasn't the place to mention his idea. He was sitting on the stairs, next to a pile of his own sick, with Sirius adamant that he hated Snape... He looked at his father, who was saying no such thing. His father, who was brilliant and astonishing in every way.

.

"_I want to rescue Snape._" He explained, in a rush. "If you didn't have the Time-turner I'm sure I would have told people where his body was after the battle but… If other people have seen his body... It will be so much harder to bring him back and... and I want to save him."


	36. Chapter 36

Sirius laughed, a genuine hard shocked bark of surprise. "Yeah." He said. "And that idea is _Bellatrix_-crazy."

"We joke about _women_ we've murdered now?_"_ Harry shot back.

.

Harry hated Bellatrix. He really hated her but he still found no humour in her death at Sirius's hands. It wasn't even because he felt sorry for her, in any way. It was because he didn't want to believe that Sirius was capable of murdering his own cousin and then cracking jokes about her madness.

.

Sirius's laugh had dropped anyway, his expression contrite; hurt, in fact. He didn't even bother to claim she'd fallen through a window, this time. He just got up, chucked the glass of water back down the stairs and walked off, leaving Harry alone, with his father and the sick soaking into the carpet.

.

"So…" James said, with a rueful grin. He prodded his glasses up his nose and adjusted his hair. "…This feels like a very father-son moment."

"I know you hated Snape." Harry told him. "When you were at school. I always hated him too. And we thought he was a Death Eater. But he wasn't. He didn't deserve to die."

.

James puzzled this in silence. Harry watched him push his glasses up his nose again. Completely randomly Harry thought about the many adventures he'd had while always managing to keep his own glasses in the correct place on his face.

.

"Snape's memories." Harry said. "They're very private and personal and… And some of them are about Lily. But maybe, as you both loved her…" He cleared his throat uneasily. "As you both loved her." He suggested. "Maybe you would understand that he couldn't help loving her, because she was so special. If you saw them, maybe you'd want to help him." James smiled. He nodded. And then he put an arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him against his chest.

"I think that is a good idea, son." He said.

.

.

The Headmasters office was empty. Almost all of Dumbledore's possessions remained. The paintings, the distinctive Hogwarts smell. He glanced at his father wondering if he felt homesick for his schooldays. Did he yearn for that angry red-haired girl, turning her nose up, as he and his giggling friends tailed her down these corridors? Just as he wished he could still go to the Gryffindor Common Room, and find Ron thrashing someone at chess, and Hermione, Crookshanks on her knees, reading away.

.

Harry hadn't noticed his father open the cupboard with the pensive in, or used the Elder wand to summon the correct crystal vial and add Snapes memories to the internally lit swirl of ether. "Come with me, yes?" James asked, reaching out for Harry's arm. Harry nodded, wondering how his grown up father would feel as he watched his bullying of Snape. And then he crossed the room and put his head into the pensive, feeling them both slipping down inside Snapes memories.

.

It was only once he was watching a nine year old Lily and Snape, with James at his side, that he realised just how personal these things really were. He was glad his father didn't laugh, or comment at all. He only watched, intent and silent, as the story played out. An awful story.

.

"...Gosh." James said, lifting his head out of the pensive. Immediately he used the Elder Wand to lift the memories into the vial, and the vial into his pocket. He took Harry back to the fireplace in silence.

"...So?" Harry asked him, finally, as they were thrown back into the kitchen at Twelve Grimmauld Place. "We should save him, right?"

"Maybe." James said. He was studying Sirius, again slumped in his armchair, looking sulkier than usual. "…Let me think about that." James said. _Think about it_, Harry wondered, _or try to get Sirius to agree? Because that looked like mission impossible.  
_

.

.

"_Let's do this!"_ James yelled. Harry's eyes flew open and he stumbled out of bed.

"_Do it? This?!"_ He stuttered. "_You'll get Snape?!"_

"Lets try not to wet our pants with excitment." Sirius suggested, wrinkling his nose in distaste. He was standing with Remus in the doorway, cmaking no attempt to hide his disgust of Harry's enthusiasm.

"No one knows Snape's dead. This should be easy." James pointed out, ignoring Sirius's griping. I'll just transfigure the snake's teeth into rubber. No biting, no poison. A quick slashing spell should produce enough blood and then I'll knock him out."

.

"I saw… I saw the life leave his eyes." Harry said, not wanting to put his father off. He glanced at Sirius.

"Oh, don't worry, I've seen enough dead eyes to manage that." James said, focused on the practicalities of it. "I'll use a spell similar to the one I used on Fred. I have the Elder Wand and I _am_ The Master..."

"_So does Voldemort._" Remus pointed out. "He also has the Elder Wand. Be very careful."

"Yes." Harry agreed. "Please be careful... You're really going to do it?"

.

"_No_." Sirius said, catching James's arm as he moved to twist the Time-turner. Harry looked up at him in alarm.

"Yes!" He said. "_We're getting him, Sirius_!" Sirius turn to look at him, in surprise.

"'No', you're not to duel Voldemort, Elder Wand against Elder Wand, to try and get two of them." Sirius clarified. James gave a whoop of laughter.

"_I so was thinking that, Pads!"_ He exclaimed. "You have to have a back-up. The Elder wand is too precious to only have one of."

"I _know_ you were thinking that." Sirius assured him. "I know what you're like, Prongs."

"Oh… Good." Harry let his breath out again. "Right. Don't fight with Voldemort or let him see you. Do you think the Time-turner is still okay? We haven't used it since you got Tonks and Fred."

"Oh, Harry." James tutted at his silliness. "_I use my Time-turner every single night._" He flung on the cloak and started to carefully twist the golden loops. "And now I shall get Snape!" And he disapparated to the Shrieking Shack.


	37. Chapter 37

Of all the things Severus had ever thought one might be confronted with at the moment of Death, he hadn't really expected James Potter. Maybe he had, he considered, as he slipped in his own blood and fell with a thud at James's feet.

.

The floor, hard and tiled, hurt as much as in life. Blood continued to pour from his neck and his hand fumbled to the cut, aware of James standing over him. He was looking as young and triumphant as any of Severus's nightmares had ever managed to create him.

.

He heard the familiar voice utter the spell to stem the bleeding. He couldn't feel the effects of Nangini's venom, but it occurred to him that he was probably 'dying' rather than 'dead'. James Potter... and Sirius Black, who was also there, watching from the far side of the room, were surely hallucinations... This was a cruel product of his own failing mind... Soon to be snuffed out, as he became fully dead... Hopefully leaving him to a night of eternal peace and blackness... Not 'Black'ness, his mind added, in case his own thought process might affect the final destination... That his mind had come up with this, made Severus suspect his mind was still functioning quite well... Which suggested that the peaceful blackness was some way off, and the 'Black'ness might be going to loiter.

.

"You're dead." He gasped. Sirius Black's handsome face broke into a white toothed smile. This was not really Sirius. Sirius's hateful smirk had been wiped off his face by twelve years in Azkaban.

"I get that all the time." Sirius said, with a bark of a laugh. "Need a hand, Snivels?"

.

Severus closed his eyes, which was fine, because any moment now he would have lost enough blood to be fully dead and his mind would stop torturing him like this.

.

"Snape? Sir?" And this was Harry, Harry Potter. Harry had been there before, when he'd been dying in the Shrieking Shack. He had looked so… So…

"Lily." He whispered, thinking his lips might never shape the word again. "_Lily._"

"She's not here." Harry told him. "Sir, you're going to be alright... _We've saved you_."

.

Had he somehow made it seem like he might _want_ to be saved? He wanted to drift into the peaceful blackness... He also wanted to look at Harry's eyes again. He could feel Harry's hand about his wrist, trying to help him up off the floor. He was less certain he was heading for the peace and blackness, because the bleeding had stopped. He opened his eyes again, and for a truly horrible moment he thought it was James and not Harry peering into his face. Then he realised it was just Harry. Unfairly, the light was reflecting off his glasses, making it hard to see his Lily-green eyes. But it was just Harry.

.

James Potter really was here, as well. He was standing over Severus, with Sirius and Remus flanking him like wolves, waiting to be ordered to the attack. He wished they would attack like proper wolves and rip him properly to pieces, so he could be dead and at peace. But they were not that sort of wolves. Only once a month anyway. Both of them. The 'Animagus Black', that's what Bellatrix had called him when she'd said she'd killed him. _You said you'd killed him, Bella, _he thought, bitterly. When he opened his eyes Sirius was still smirking at him. Suddenly Severus really hated that he was fallen on the floor with his blood all over him. And trembling with the effort, he pulled himself upright on Harry's arms, before shoving the boy away.

.

So here he was… He was in a never before seen Muggle kitchen, with Harry Potter, and the Marauders… Minus Peter… Unless this was Peter... He paused to check Harry was Harry again, which he was... And thank God, really, because even Harry was better than just all four of _them_.

.

"Severus?" Remus said, stepping forward and smiling his sympathetic half-smile. _What have you got to smile about_, Severus thought, angrily, _you're a werewolf. Don't you dare feel sorry for me… And you're dead_, his mind added helpfully,_ if you're here with us; in this Hell, you must be dead too._

.

His mind wondered suddenly if this was actually Hell..._ No_, he thought, _because Harry wouldn't be in Hell... I_t occurred to him that if Harry was dead, Voldemort had won and everything had been for nothing, anyway. Unless Albus had been right and Harry had been the sacrificial lamb. _Sickening._

.

"Severus?" _Sympathy from a Werewolf; that Werewolf._ Severus opened his eyes again. Remus was loitering, wisely not trying to hold him up, although he looked like he was considering it. Behind the Werewolf's back Sirius stretched, arms lazily hitting the low ceiling, making sure Severus didn't forget he was there. Severus hadn't forgotten.

.

"Severus, would you like to sit down?" Remus suggested.

"Oh, Thank you, Professor Lupin." Severus said, bringing a faint smile to his own lips.

"Sit down." Remus said, nicely. "You'll be fine in a minute."

"_Professor_ Lupin." Severus scoffed, ignoring the chair Remus had just moved out from the table.

"He isn't a Professor anymore. You got him fired, remember?" Harry told him.

"I didn't get him fired." Severus said, looking at Harry's face. He'd moved round and Severus could see his green eyes again. _Lily's eyes._ "Lupin resigned, so he could go and look after Black, because Black can't even feed himself without someone to open the tin of dog food for him."

"Oh, hasn't death made you wonderfully witty." Sirius said.

"You're a dog." Severus told him, which was less witty, but he was disorientated and dizzy from blood-loss. "An animagus dog... That's why you weren't scared of going into the tunnel... Under the Willow... Because werewolves only bite people... You're not a person. _None of you are."_

"This is so much fun, I don't know why we didn't do it sooner." Sirius said. "Will you be calling us all 'Mudbloods' next?"

.

Severus closed his eyes. _Die_, he begged his apparently reasonably functioning mind_ just let me die.._. _Or him_, he added, _let him die_. But Sirius did not fall to the floor, dead, and Severus was forced to re-opened his eyes.

.

James Potter grinned brightly at him. Sirius was still smirking, beside him, and Remus and Harry were loitering, and he was pretty certain he was going to faint if he didn't accept their stupid offered chair.


	38. Chapter 38

"Why don't you give us five minutes?" Remus suggested, evenly.

"Don't be a killjoy, Moony." Sirius said, still all white teeth and sparking eyes.

"Because this is fascinating." James added, grabbing Severus by the upper arms and thrusting him into the chair before straddling another, peering at Severus like he was an unusually interesting beetle.

.

"You worked as a double agent in Voldemort's inner circle for twenty years." James stated. Voldemort had been officially dead for most of them, but Severus was pretty certain he didn't want to chat with James Potter about it, so he bit his tongue and ignored him. "And you tried to keep my son safe." James added, pushing his glasses up his nose.

.

Severus had forgotten he did that with his glasses, all the time. He'd forgotten that he commanded so much more attention than Harry as well, broader shoulders, more angular jaw, sharp eyebrows and arrogance, so much arrogance.

.

Harry, and not just the eyes, _was like Lily as well._ Severus wondered if his brain really had to inflict a twenty one year old James Potter on him to make him appreciate that. He looked round the kitchen for Harry, now standing between wolf and dog, Black's hand resting on his arm.

.

"Severus?" James sung. "Mate?" He clicked bony fingers in front of Severus's face, as if _he_ was the dog.

"There is no need." Severus assured him, trying to push James's hand out of his face.

"I'm thanking you." James stated, as if he should be deeply grateful. "You looked after my son."

"He didn't." Sirius growled, behind James's back. _I did_, Severus thought_, and not for any of you_.

.

"...Sir." Harry said, stepping away from Sirius. "_I_ wanted to say 'thank you'. I think you're the bravest man I have ever met."

"Yeah, I _am_ going to give you five minutes." Sirius concluded. He knocked Remus's arm off him and walked out.

"And you didn't deserve to die." Harry finished.

"I did die then." Severus concluded. He was aware of James's broadening grin. He had forgotten just _how much_ he hated that smile, full of glee at his own brilliance.

"You died." Harry told him. "Nagini bit you but my dad, James, saved you. _He saved your life._"

.

So many thoughts and no words at all. _Bravo James_, Severus thought. They did actually use words like 'bravo' for each other, Sirius and James. Why was he stuck in the past with people he hated? That was _not_ being 'saved'.

.

"You can thank me later." James suggested, brightly. "When you've recovered."

"You can go home." Harry added. It sounded splendidly naïve and James obviously thought so as well, although he quashed his smile at once.

"You could go." Remus said, nicely. "But everyone is under the assumption that you were working for Voldemort and _you murdered Albus."_ Severus saw the flicker of pure rage, well hidden behind the Werewolf's calm words. What_ do you care,_ he thought bitterly, _Albus liked you about as much as he liked me.  
_

"He had to kill him." James pronounced. "Albus was dying. It was part of a bigger plan. I'll explain, later, Remus."

.

Albus had been dying, but Severus was not. The blood on his neck and clothes was growing gungy and dry. The sparkling at the edge of his vision was retreating. He had just noticed that the lay out of the kitchen was unmistakable, they were in the basement kitchen of Twelve Grimmauld Place. A baby was crying somewhere in the quiet above them, reminding him of the baby Harry, wailing in his cot, when he'd found Lily dead. Severus never heard the cries of babies; not in Hogwarts, and not, thank God, in the presence of the Dark Lord_._

.

"What happened?" He asked. "In the battle."

"Voldemort died." Harry said.

"Harry killed him!" James proclaimed, loudly. _Of course he did_, Severus thought, _a seventeen year old boy_. "My son!" James clarified, presumably on the off chance that Severus was unaware that he had married Lily and got his horrible son on her.

.

"Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra." Harry explained. "It back-fired and killed him." Severus closed his eyes again. _Voldemort was dead... Voldemort was dead. Could Voldemort actually be dead? Where was he, and why was there a baby crying, and how were James and Sirius here? And where was here? _And then he felt himself pitching forwards in the darkness, and arms that he really hoped were Harry's, if they had to belong to any of these people, were stopping him falling onto the floor.


	39. Chapter 39

Harry didn't know if Severus was awake. He didn't know what he would say to him. They had taken him to the empty third floor, the room where Arthur and Molly had slept. It was now a very tasteful guest room, thanks to Number Eleven's décor. Harry's bedroom had borrowed it's décor from Number Thirteen. He liked it a lot, because it had wall-lights above the bed, shaped like a moon and a star, and a desk with a lot of shelves in which he'd originally found lots of very Muggle books, and models of dinosaurs and planes. The room belonged to a younger boy than him, really. But he loved it, never having had a nice bedroom before. James had taken the master bedroom from Number Eleven, with a massive brass bedstead and an on-suite bathroom. And never having seen inside, Harry didn't know if Sirius had chosen tasteful Number Eleven or funky Number Thirteen. As Sirius usually slept in his armchair in the kitchen, it didn't matter much either way.

.

He was asleep in the chair now, black hair over his face, a pale hand flopped to the floor. Harry had been worrying about Sirius, but he stopped, when he saw him, lying like that. He remembered what Snape had said the day before about Sirius needing his dog food tins opened for him and had to stifle a grin.

.

"Made you a tea." He nudged Sirius, passing him the mug as he sat up. "You're always asleep."

"You say that." Sirius agreed, burning his mouth on the hot tea. "But I swear I wasted a year of my life last night. Your father is a very boring man." He stifled a yawn, trying to get his dry mouth to produce some saliva. "Great moments in Muggle history. Walls being knocked down, people dying in bunkers." He yawned again, straightening his hair. "What time is it?" He asked. "Why isn't Moony here?"

"Because it's too early." Harry told him. "I'm going to take Snape some toast and tea. I want him to realise I appreciate what he did for me."

"He didn't do anything for you." Sirius said at once.

"He did. I saw his memories."

"I saw his memories to." Sirius said at once. "James showed me. He's a creep and a weirdo."

"James showed you?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself. _Why would his father do that?_ Sirius smiled broadly. He yawned again, flashing perfectly white teeth.

"Harry, he is my _best friend."_ Sirius pointed out, smugly. "We do _everything_ together."

"But that was private." Harry said, firmly. "You hate Snape. It's not right."

"To let me sniff around inside Snivelly's mind?" Sirius queried. Harry could tell Sirius was _trying_ to wind him up, although he'd never been on the receiving end of that game before. He turned around and carried on slicing bread for toast, aware that Sirius was watching his back, waiting.

.

"Why do you never have Ginny round?" Sirius asked, finally.

"I do." Harry said, too quickly. "She was here on Friday." He added. "And I go to The Burrow all the time."

"No, you don't." Sirius stated.

"I do." Harry said. "And…" And ironically Sirius had been top of his list of people to talk to about this. He turned around and eyed his godfather thoughtfully. "I wanted to talk to you about it." He said. _Although not like this, obviously_.

"Go on then." Sirius dared him, brightly. Harry didn't.

.

"…It's funny, you saying that my dad's your best friend and you do everything together." Harry said, instead. "Because you spend every day with Remus and Teddy."

.

'_My dad is too busy reading to play with you'_, he wanted to add, but he wasn't as rude as Sirius. Or '_And you spend every weekend sulking because Tonks is home from work'_.

.

_'My dad obliviated pretty much all of your adult memory'_ sprung to mind as well, but that was too horrific to say out loud. That _was_ _actually_ horrific. _Don't feel sorry for Sirius_, Harry mentally admonished himself_, not while he's trying to wind you up, at least._

.

"Your father," Sirius stated with an air of utter confidence. "Is my best friend. We don't need to spend every day together, although we spend pretty much every night together, Harry, which is why I am so tired all the time. And now I am going back to sleep, until Remus brings Teddy round for me to play with."

.

"What does that even mean!?" Harry asked. Sirius ignored him, smiling with his eyes shut. "_Sirius!_" Sirius smile broadened, eyes still determinedly closed. "I really don't know what you're trying to say." Harry pointed out. "But as my dad got _married_ and had _me,_ I'm pretty certain he wouldn't want to spend the night with you!"

.

Sirius snorted. And then he choked. Then he fell off the chair, laughing very hard.

.

"I'd kick him." Remus said, coming into the kitchen with Teddy in his arms. "Whatever it was, if he thought it was that funny, it probably warrants, at the very least, a kick."

"_It does!"_ Sirius howled, flat on his back, trying to contain his mirth, while Harry boggled at him. Remus chucked The Daily Prophet on the table and bent down to lay Teddy on Sirius's chest.

"Cup of tea, Harry?" He asked, mildly.

.

"We already have some." Sirius said, still lying on the floor, lifting the baby up in the air above his face and kissing him as he tried to stop sniggering. "...Harry just made me one, along with the funniest mis-assumption I have ever heard in my life. Tea for me and breakfast in bed for Snivels."

"That sounds like favouritism." Remus observed, making himself a cup. "Not sure the Potions Master will be impressed with burnt toast though, Harry." He removed the smoking blackened slices from under the grill and banished the cloud of accompanying smoke with his wand.

.

"I was distracted." Harry said, cutting two fresh slices. "And I want Professor Snape to realise I do appreciate everything he did for me and for all of us."  
"He left me to die a horrible death, so I am officially exempt from having to show appreciation." Sirius pointed out, still lying on his back, lowering Teddy repeatedly to his lips, then lifting him up again and again, to make the baby laugh.

.

Harry watched Teddy hanging down, smile as wide as Sirius's own, tiny hands reaching out for Sirius's face. "…But you two feel free to appreciate him." Sirius added, tartly. Remus grinned at him, before settling at the table and opening his paper. "…If you don't care that he killed me." Sirius added. "…And James."

.

"Bellatrix killed you." Remus pointed out, frowning at something he'd just read. "And it really does look like Severus tried desperately to save James and Lily."

"No, he tried desperately to save _Lily_." Sirius told him. "He would have loved Voldemort to kill James and baby Harry, because he's a monstrous excuse for a human-being."

"At least he _is_ human." Remus said, flashing Sirius a grin over the top of the paper. Sirius smiled. Teddy chuckled heartily and snatched a handful of his black hair.

"Your baby is a bully." Sirius complained, untangling him.

"And that is why we call him Baby Sirius." Remus observed. Teddy currently looked like a baby Sirius. He had lots of fluffy black hair, and big grey eyes fringed with the longest black lashes.

.

"So my dad didn't show _you_ Snape's memories, Remus?" Harry asked.

"Or you would know that he was happy to let Voldemort murder Baby Harry, and more than happy for James to die." Sirius pointed out. "We were chatting about it, lying in bed together last night. You know, romantic 'Pillow talk'." He blinked at Remus, trying not to laugh while Remus regarded him in silence for a moment, before he grinned.

.

"That's a new one on me, Pads." He said, mildly.

"Well, that's just how we treat our brothers in the Black family!" Sirius assured him, with another bark of a laugh.  
"I don't doubt it." Remus said. "It's James's participation I find unlikely."

"I had to drug him... Snivelly made me some Amorentia!" Sirius laughed, sitting up as Teddy started to squirm on his chest. "Actually I am absolutely shattered, Moony. I swear I have spent a year of my life stuck under the invisibility cloak last night, watching 'important' events from Muggle history."

"Really?" Remus asked, as surprised as Harry was. "James is using the Time-turner to look at Muggle history during the night?"

"He never stops using the Time-turner." Sirius assured him with a sigh. "I have to go with him, to get him back if something goes wrong, but seriously, Moony, when you think of all the things you could go and get an eye-full of, with a Time-turner and an invisibility cloak… Actually, shall I steal it? Would you like to go anywhere?"

.

"Stop! Wait!" Harry stammered. "You're saying you and my dad are using the Time-turner, every night, to explore the past?"

"Only in between all the hardcore bedroom action." Sirius laughed, sarcastically.

"And are you changing anything?" Remus asked him, sharply. Sirius grinned.

"_I_..." He said, "am under orders to 'look but not touch' but _yes,_ James certainly is. _You should see the surprise we've got for you, Harry."_


	40. Chapter 40

"The surprise you've got for me?" Harry asked.

"No. The surprise James has for you." Sirius said. "It was just my idea and I got it and am looking after it."

"_Are you serious?"_ Remus asked. Sirius wrinkled his nose.

"I am always…"

"_Sirius!"_ Remus exclaimed, in exasperation. "The '_thing'_ you are looking after in your bedroom is '_the_ _thing'_? It is actually the '_original thing'_? That is _in your room?"_ Sirius snorted with laughter.

"My bedroom door is hexed, Harry." He said. "To keep Reggie out. So don't go nosing. It's only a month till your birthday."

.

"It's a birthday present?" Harry asked, slightly disappointed. "Is it… Is it anything to do with my mum?"

"No." Sirius said. "I wish it was. But it is something excellent, Harry. Want to see all the things I've stolen?"

"You altered time for a handful of trinkets?" Remus said, his disapproval bringing the smile back to Sirius's face as he emptied his pockets of a random assortment of junk.

"I am a _Marauder_." He pointed out. "It is my duty to Maraud. And these are 'historical Muggle treasures'. This is a bit of a very exciting wall that got knocked down. And these are random things from a bunker of suicidal crazy people we nearly got blown up with." He swept them quickly under his chair and set Teddy higher on his lap, looking guilty as sin, as they heard James on the stairs.

.

James wandered into the kitchen, hair as crazy as could be, spell flying from the tip of the elder wand to heat the kettle and start the mugs dancing. He looked round at them all, suspiciously.

.

"You told them!?" He turned on Sirius.

"_No!_" Sirius said, vehemently. "No! I told them _other stuff_. Like just _how much_ you love me."

"I love you more than Remus and less than Harry." James said, coaxing his now prepared cup of coffee through the air with the Elder Wand.

"Well, I like you less than Harry and Remus." Sirius told him, petulantly. "...Put together. ...And Teddy." James laughed.

"Charming." He said. "What are you doing tonight, Remus?"

"Well…" Remus hesitated for a moment. "I was… Actually, I was going to take my wife out to dinner."

"Yes. You're going to have to scrap that idea." James told him.

"Well... I can't, really." Remus said.

.

"Am I looking after Teddy?" Sirius asked.

"No, Sirius, obviously you are not." James pointed out.

"Dora has already asked her mother to look after Teddy." Remus said, adding, "It's our first wedding anniversary."

"Oh, well, _congratulations."_ Sirius said, unconvincingly. "Teddy, you must be three months old."

.

"Really?" James considered, tapping his Elder Wand thoughtfully. "...That could work well. You can tell her that you're taking her to a fancy restaurant and then bring her here, instead."

"Why would I do that?" Remus asked, as nicely as he could.

"It's a surprise." Sirius said. "Unless you've got your whole night already planned."

.

"No." Remus said, with a very forced smile. "But... I am trying to un-rock that boat, at the moment."

"I have no desire to get involved in that." James dismissed it. "That's your problem. Bring Dora here tonight."

"Are you sure?" Remus asked.

"Less sure every minute." Sirius growled. "I'm going to take Teddy out for a walk."

"Can I come with you?" Remus asked, at once. Sirius gave him a look of incredulity and utter petulance, which Remus completely ignored, following Sirius up the stairs. Teddy watched, over Sirius's shoulder, eyes on his daddy, fist trying to rip out a handful of Sirius's hair.

.

"Sirius said you use the Time-turner at night, to visit the past." Harry said, as soon as they were gone. "Isn't that risky?"

"No, it's _brilliant_." James assured him. "I'll take you with me, if you like. We were in Germany last night. It was fascinating. No one has any idea how powerful I am, Harry."

"And why do you want Remus to bring Tonks over tonight?" Harry pressed him. James grinned, sharp eyebrows rising above the rims of his glasses.

"That…" He said. "…is a surprise. That is going to be an excellent surprise." Harry nodded, pretty certain it wasn't going to be.

.

He finished making up the tray of toast and tea and took it up to Severus's bedroom, but when he knocked there was no answer. He tried the door, in case Severus had died from blood-loss in the night and was frostily ordered to leave it outside, which Harry did, ignoring Regulus who was hurrying past him. He was still wearing robes, green and black, and rushing to answer a knock at the door that Harry really hoped wasn't Hermione's.


	41. Chapter 41

Dora laid her son on the bed and changed him into his night clothes and a clean nappy in preparation for taking him to her mothers. Teddy blinked sleepily at her, with big grey eyes as she forced a smile onto her lips and pulled a knitted hat over his silky black hair. She left him on the bed, as she stripped naked and pulled on the new dress she had brought for the evening.

.

She didn't often wear dresses, in her line of work as an Auror. She straightened the hem rather uncomfortably, seeing a pale unhappy face peered back at her from the mirror. She focused on making her eyelashes long and dark, her lips fuller... Her eyes caught on her baby, kicking its feet about on the bed, his own eyelashes thicker and darker, his perfect lips wrapped around a fist, he was mouthing hungrily. Her darkening thoughts caused her transformation to curdle somewhat. Sharpening her focus, Dora flushed her cheeks to a pretty pink and corrected the venomous red of her irises to a deep amethyst purple.

.

For a moment she stayed in front of the mirror, changing the shape of her body to fill the dress differently, curving in her waist, swelling her bosom, then reducing it when the effect made her want to laugh. She stopped as she heard Remus coming in, and picked the baby up again.

.

"Happy Anniversary." He said, brandishing flowers and a gift. He held Teddy so she could open the box. It was jewellery. A necklace and bracelet that looked expensive enough to make her wonder how he had paid for them... She tried not to consider the possibility that Sirius had given him the money... She was absolutely not going to consider Sirius at all, all night... She was not going to ask Remus where he had been all day, on their _Wedding Anniversary_... She was not going to dwell on her son's frequently adopted Black looks, or on where her husband had got the money for her gift... Although he definitely hadn't got it from their vault... And he must have got it from somewhere... And the most likely somewhere... It occurred to her that if Sirius had had any part in buying the jewellery, he would have done something to it, to make sure she knew... Feeling like beating herself around the head with her own shoe, she twisted the bracelet round on her wrist, searching for any hallmark or engraving that suggested anything but regards from her loving husband.

.

"It's from Teddy." Remus said, watching her. "And the necklace is from me. I am sorry, Dora. It hasn't been the best year."

"That's not the nicest thing to say to your wife on her First Wedding Anniversary." Dora pointed out. "_Yet it is true."_ Remus gave her a nice smile; a sorry smile. His hair was rather windswept, making her notice the grey streaks in it. "It's been a good year as well." She pointed out. "We had a nice wedding. And a lovely baby." He kissed her cheek. Dora lifted up the thick blond hair she had adopted for the evening, feeling his cool hands threading the necklace around her neck. "…And you got your best friend back." She added. Remus fastened the clasp carefully.

"Two of them." He said. "And Voldemort was defeated. And we cheated death. And you forgave me for letting you down, horribly, when I found out you were pregnant."

"See. Not such a bad year." She pointed out, thinking about her father, murdered by Snatchers; and Moody, dead because of Mundungus's cowardice. "...I should take Teddy to my mums." She said. "I'm rather excited about it being just the two of us." Her husband did not voice equal enthusiasm, but Dora ignored that and picked up her grey eyed baby. She stared at him hard, with her big purple eyes open very wide, willing him to adopt them. Teddy blinked back at her, with sweeping black lashes, grey eyes sparkling with mischief as he tried to yank her hair.

.

Her mother was so unsupportive about her whole marriage. Dora was not happy. Remus was reading the paper when she got back from dropping off Teddy; reading about the new anti-werewolf laws. They hadn't discussed them yet and he still didn't mention them, now; folding the paper quickly away and forcing a smile.

.

"Any good?" She asked, giving a twirl when he didn't say anything. Everything felt rather forced.

"Sorry." He said. "You look beautiful. Just stunning. Before we go to the restaurant, I need to stop in at Grimmauld Place."

"Why?" Dora asked him.

"I need to speak to Sirius. Only for five minutes. One minute."

"About what?" Dora said. "On your _Wedding Anniversary?!"_

"About something. These new laws."

"_We_ haven't talked about the new law, Remus!" Dora shouted at him. "What difference do they make to Sirius?!"

"He asked me to talk to him about them." Remus tried. "I don't know why. Because he cares?"

"He doesn't care!" Dora shouted. "He's just a bastard, Remus! He's just doing it on purpose, because he's bored and lonely and he thinks it's funny! Or because he's jealous!"

.

Remus didn't say anything. _Anything_. He just waited. Dora pressed the sides of her temples, blowing her breath in an angry hiss between her clenched teeth. She was pretty certain she had just undone all her hard work on the pretty face and the amethyst eyes.

"…And you've been at Grimmauld Place _all day_, while I have been working." She added, finally. "_I know you have!_"

"I didn't realise I was forbidden to leave the house while you were at work." He said.

"Oh, don't be so stupid!" She exploded. She felt like she might actually explode. She was sure her eyes were as scarlet as Teddy's, when she couldn't get his bottle of milk warmed up in time. "That is pathetic." She hissed. "_Fine. Go to Grimmauld Place! I'll meet you at the restaurant, if you can be bothered to turn up! ...Bring Sirius, maybe_!"

.

The door slammed. This was not how anniversaries were meant to be.

.

She had spent a long time choosing the dress. It was brown. Because Remus liked brown.

.

It was lucky she wasn't wearing make-up, because the tears spilling down her face would have made the biggest mess.

.

It was her first night without Teddy, since he'd been born. She wanted to go and get him and cuddle him. But she didn't want her mother to know that Remus hadn't taken her out to an amazing restaurant and treated her like a princess.

.

She wished her dad was alive to give Remus a piece of his mind. She wished her Dad was alive to treat her like a princess. She wished Alastor was alive. She wished so hard, it hurt. The bedroom she was sitting in didn't look very different to when it had been Alastor's home, and she had come to visit him here. She sat on the floor, head resting against the wall, crying to have Teddy back in her arms, crying for her dead dad, and for Alastor.

.

She quickly wiped her face on her sleeve as Remus hurried back up the stairs. She let him put a strong her around her shoulder, holding her gently stroking her limp grey hair. She wiped her tears away on the shoulder of his soft shirt, that smelt faintly of Teddy's drool. "...I will just pop in for one minute, and then we'll be out of there." He promised. Dora rested her forehead against his shoulder and didn't try to argue again.


	42. Chapter 42

"Hey, Moony." Sirius said, eyes sparkling with uncontainable excitement. "…And Dora." He stood aside, waiting for them to come fully inside.

"We have reservations at a restaurant." Dora said.

"Lovely. Which restaurant?" Sirius asked, with an evil grin.

"Does it matter?" Remus said, because he was stressed; and then he caught Sirius's arm, as if hated that he'd knocked Sirius's nasty smile away. Dora was sure there was a more convincing sorry in her husbands eyes for Sirius than there had been all evening for her.

.

"It's our wedding anniversary, Sirius." She snapped. "Let's assume that you wanted us to stop round here tonight for something really important."

"I think you need to control your 'Black' temper." Sirius cooed, softly.

"You're a 'Black', Sirius." Dora told him. "I'm not. And I never have been."

"No, you're a 'Tonk'!" Sirius said with a shameless bark of laughter.

"It's 'Tonks'." Dora said, as calmly as she could. "And no, I'm not, Sirius. I am a Lupin." Sirius looked down at her for a moment and then he walked off, into the house. "...If this takes more than five minutes, I'm going to go home." Dora said. "I'm serious, Remus." Remus blinked at her. "Go." She said. "Go, talk to him, I'll wait. It's not me he wants to talk to, is it?"

.

Sirius had gone up the stairs, and so Remus headed after him, although Sirius was waiting for him by the Drawing Room door, which he was holding ajar. "Your wife is a right bitch, Moony." He whispered, as Remus reached the landing. "She really doesn't deserve any of the nice things I do for her."

"What nice things?" Remus asked him.

"Child care." Sirius suggested. "This…" He caught Remus's arm, pulling him over and peeping into the room, before yanking Remus right over so he could see through the crack as well.

.

It was dark in the Drawing Room; dark but occupied. Remus narrowed his eyes, recognising the familiar face of the portly fair-haired man who had expressly forbidden him to marry his daughter, who had physically thrown him out of the house when he'd come to apologise for leaving her, pregnant, a few months later. Ted Tonks.

.

"DORA!" Remus shouted, at once. Everyone in the room jumped. Sirius sighed, heavily.

"It's meant to be_ exciting _and_ surprising!_" He told Remus, in exasperation.

"Yeah.._. DORA_!" Remus yelled again.

.

"…Dora?!" The sudden and unmistakable voice of Ted Tonks brought Dora scrambling up the stairs, rippling the door out of Sirius's grip as Ted flung himself through it, almost knocking his daughter down the stairwell.

.

"We are _so_ good." Sirius pointed out smugly. "_Happy Anniversary, Dora!"_ He shouted into the room.

.

"...You do know, he told me I wasn't allowed to marry her, don't you?" Remus said.

"In my very humble opinion, I think you should have listened to him." Sirius said.

"Well, I'll tell Baby Sirius you said that." Remus said.

"That is... annoying. I do love Baby Sirius so very much." Sirius agreed. He looked back into the room, where Dora and Ted were both sobbing at each other. She hadn't even noticed Alastor Moody yet, patiently waiting on the sofa to greet her. Or James, who was leaning against the wall, watching and marvelling at his own genius.

.

"...It was _very_ hard to do." Sirius told him. "And very grizzly. We had to replace Mad-eye's body with a freshly dead corpse because apparently the Death Eaters found it almost straight away, and they kept the magic eyeball, so I had to swap the eyes,_ with my fingers, _Moony_._ So grim... I hope she appreciates it."

"She looks like she does." Remus pointed out. "It's nice to see her happy, Sirius. It really is."

"And it's nice to know she'll have lots of people to go and visit at the weekends, now." Sirius told him, sweetly.

"She'll want me to go with her!" Remus laughed.

"No, she won't, because Ted Tonks _hates you,_ remember?" Sirius reminded him. "And Mad-eye _will_ hate you, when I tell him how you left your poor pregnant wife."  
"Thanks, Sirius." Remus said. Sirius's smile broadened.

"Ted was even harder to rescue than Mad-eye." He said, drawing Remus away from the room. "Let me hide you, before Ted tries to use the killing curse on you." He offered. "And I shall tell you how exceptionally cunning we were, rescuing all these men who hate your guts."

"Mad-eye doesn't hate me." Remus reminded him.

"_Yet!_" Sirius laughed.


	43. Chapter 43

It was well past midday when Severus woke. The sun had already left the roof of the sky. Dazzling light was pouring hot and blinding through undrawn curtains.

.

Vaguely he remembered struggling to make the curtains close, so he could undress the night before. He had failed and had crawled into the bed, gowns still on, covered in his own sticky congealing blood. The blood was dry now, and the cloth starched crisp. It was stiflingly hot and he felt clammy and, in fact, filthy in every way it was possible to feel so.

.

His feet found soft carpet. The room was strange and unfamiliar. A pictures on the wall of four men at sunset wearing hats. A black and white photograph of horses running. Nothing moved, everything was frozen and perfectly still. Severus forced himself not to be stilled by it, and started to examine everything.

.

The closet had been replaced with a very small shower. Muggle bottles of soap and shampoo. A tall wardrobe and a chest of draws, full of clean Muggle clothes. Meant for him? He had no idea. He found a mirror, tucked in the tiny shower room, and peered at his reflection to be sure he was not someone else. The face that peered back was paler than usual; grey white, from blood-loss he presumed. The cut on his neck was healed to a puffy pink line. It was not a snake bite. It was a clean slash, probably made with _his_ cutting curse, probably inflicted by James Potter; unless that had been wild hallucinations brought on by shock and blood-loss. Sadly the bizarre room did not suggest it.

.

He spent a considerable length of time trying to find the least offensive of the Muggle clothes before scrubbing in the shower. He felt ridiculous and uncomfortable. He needed to find a wand.

.

The bright afternoon sun had sunk to a glowing evening light. The quiet had been replaced with what sounded like a house-party beneath his feet. Severus listened, feeling the last of his comprehension slipping away. For a moment he attempted to put his memories in order.

.

The battle had been climactic and brutal. Voldemort had tried to murder him. Nangini had bitten him. Only she hadn't. Her mouth had clamped around his throat but her teeth had not sunk through his skin. He felt the puffy raised scar. His throat had been cut, and some worse spell had made him believe he was dying. Potter? Or _Potter_? Harry had appeared from nowhere as Voldemort had vanished. Big shocked green eyes. Severus had given him his memories, everything he could, so he knew Dumbledore wanted him to die. Had Harry died? A tremor of fear ran through him. He had promised to keep him safe for Lily. He promised Albus he would let him be sacrificed for the greater good. Had Harry died!? Harry had been there afterwards, but James had been there afterwards, and Sirius; so that was definitely no measure of alive-ness.

.

He was in a weird Muggle house, in someone else's bedroom, and people were partying loudly beneath him. His life had officially reached new levels of complexity. Which was ironic, because he had long suspected his was the most complex life in existence.

.

No matter. He would find a wand and he would leave. Hogwarts was lost to him. He had ruled it for Voldemort, with Death Eater teachers and torture for children. Hogwarts was lost, Voldemort and Albus were dead. He didn't know his destination, so he focused finding a wand and leaving here.

.

Pushing open the door he was immediately confronted by Sirius Black. Not immediately, because Sirius had his back to him and was whispering in Remus Lupin's ear. The Werewolf had been laughing until his eyes caught on Severus and gestured Sirius to see.

.

Now recovered from his bloody, and narrowly sidestepped, death Severus noticed that while Sirius did look very completely recovered from his twelve year stint in Azkaban he was not a school boy. And Lupin looked like his normal, slightly careworn, pretending to be a human, self.

.

"Snivels! You're up!" Sirius said, brightly. "I hear you claimed you warned me about Harry's vision of my torture in the Department of Mysteries."

"No. I didn't say that. I said I _checked that you were in the house."_ Severus said, calmly. "Which you were; playing with your pet Hippogriff. I didn't ever claim to have _spoken_ to you_._"

.

Sirius flicked his wand into his hand, watching Severus with narrowed eyes. "...You're lucky I'm in such an excellent mood." He said. "I don't know why I'm wasting my time talking to you."

"There's food in the kitchen, Severus." Remus told him. "Help yourself, won't you." And he headed briskly off into the house, with Sirius on his heels.

.

Now certain he was in a redecorated Grimmauld Place, Severus followed the staircase to the first floor, where the Drawing Room was open and full of shouting laughing people. Order Members mostly and Weasleys; everyone splendidly excessively happy.

.

He reached the ground floor. He could leave but had no wand and nowhere to go and forced himself quickly down to the basement kitchen. Here he found Hermione Granger sitting at the table with a dark haired boy who he probably should recognise, and the house elf, Kreacher.

.

"Professor Snape!?" Hermione exclaimed, jumping off her chair. "You're alive!"

"_Professor_ Snape?" The dark haired boy drawled doubtfully. Severus _did_ know who he was, because he was _Sirius's brother. _It was_ Regulus Black._

"Yes." Severus said. "You're alive as well, Reggie?"

"You're… _old!" _Regulus exclaimed, getting up as well and clasping Severus's hand. He laughed. "Gosh, that was rude." He added. "Just such a shock. Only the Werewolf is… older."

"I noticed." Severus agreed, looking over Regulus, who really was as alive and _as young_ as the last time Severus had seen him.

.

"I mean gosh, Sevy! I heard you swapped sides as well." Regulus added with a rueful grin. "…It bites worse than a Shrake. Absolutely _everyone_ hates you."

"Yes, it does." Severus agreed.

"_Master Regulus is a hero!"_ The house elf croaked, enthusiastically.

"There now." Severus observed. "Everyone doesn't hate you, Reggie."

.

"You _know_ each other?" Hermione said. "And you like each other?"

"We know each other." Severus clarified. Reggie grinned at him, amused.

"And like each other, well enough?" He asked, offering Severus his hand again. "Any enemy of my brothers…?" Severus nodded, letting Reggie take his hand again, not sure how to respond to that.


	44. Chapter 44

"Sevy was in my brothers year at school." Reggie added, to Hermione. "He was exceptional at potions and a crazy inventor of new spells. Bit of an evil genius. My brother hated him; which is a good recommendation. And now you're a Professor? For Dumbledore?"

"Was." Severus said.

"_Your_ Potions Professor, Hermione?" Regulus asked.

"Yes." Hermione's cheeks coloured as she realised she may not have been entirely complimentary when describing the Potions Master to Regulus. On the plus side, she was certain Regulus had the good manners not to repeat anything.

.

"This party isn't for you, is it?" Regulus added.

"No." Severus said. Of that, at least, he was certain. "Your brother is skulking upstairs." He added. "With his Werewolf friend."

"Nothing new there." Regulus shrugged. "... Can't believe you're here, actually. That's astonishing."

"I'm very glad you are, sir." Hermione added awkwardly. "Harry really wanted them to help you. He knows now, everything you did to help him." Severus didn't speak. The thought of his most private thoughts being pried into by the Potters was just horrific.

The house elf walking purposefully past him and struck itself on the head with a bright orange frying pan. Hermione and Regulus jumped up to restrained him,, and Severus headed back up the stairs listening to them both urgently assuring the house elf it ' didn't have to follow Sirius's orders any more!".

.

James Potter was, unsurprisingly, the life and soul of the manic party. Music spewed wildly from the enchanted record player Remus put in his classroom four years before. Impressively inappropriately, even by James's standards, Potter Senior was dancing with his son's girlfriend. Harry watching, with a slightly confused smile. Nymphadora Tonks, for reasons unknown, appeared to be _very_ drunk, and was trying to convince a clearly one-legged Mad-eye Moody to dance with her.

.

Feeling the lack of his robes, Severus swept through the room and caught James's arm. Laughing, the taller man released his son's seventeen year old girlfriend and turned; quirking his eyebrows as he grinned. "Why, Severus!" He said, voice heavy with that oh-so familiar sarcasm. "What can I do for you? Fancy a Firewhiskey? We're celebrating my greatness!"

"I'd like you to tell me why you took it upon yourself to rescue me. Clearly it wasn't out of the goodness of your heart." Severus said, crisply.

"My heart over flows with goodness!" James cried, loud enough to extract a grin from Ginny Weasley and a dozen people surrounding them. "I did it for my son, Harry!" He proclaimed, smiling over at Harry who looked as pitifully, and predictably, in awe of his father as Severus expected.

"In that case, thank you, both." Severus said. "Good bye, Potter." And he walked, as quickly as he could, out of the heaving room, and down Grimmauld Place's staircase.

.

James caught up with him before he reached the front door, swishing the locks with his wand, a wand that Severus realised with a jolt of horror, that was Albus's. _It was The Elder Wand._ _"...Good bye, James."_ He said, again.

"But you haven't thanked me yet." James stalled, glancing up at the stairs, before he came down the corridor, blocking the exit.

"Thank you." Severus said. "_Again._ Now I am free to leave?"

"Well, Severus..." James smiled at him. "...That is the second time I have saved your life, you know?"

"And it wasn't even your friends trying to kill me this time.

"It was never Remus." James claimed, brightly. Severus's skin prickling with annoyance.

"…Of course." He said, calmly. "And the Werewolf didn't know Black was an animagus, I suppose? It didn't know Black's secret route into the castle? Not even Black slashing up The Fat Lady and the drapes in your son's dormitory, with his dagger, didn't jog his scatty memory, no?" James Potter was no more frightening than any other smug brattish school boy, and Severus had dealt with plenty of boys like James, as a House Master and teacher for the last decade. "It was so 'lucky' the Werewolf 'knew' Black didn't want to kill your son, when he decided to _conceal a psychotic escaped criminal's animagus abilities, and the secret route he knew Black was using to get into the castle."_He agreed, voice laced with icy sarcasm.

.

"_You really are a snivelling, stirring, excuse for a human being, aren't you, Snivels!?"_ James spat at him. Severus felt his lips threaten to curl into a smile as he watched Harry, at the foot of the stairs, staring at his father with a look of utter shock. The effect was so pleasing that Severus's mind went completely blank of anything else he could say to make James carry on.

"…Dad?" Harry stammered. Severus watched James swing round and he actually wanted to laugh. _Touché, James_, he thought, smugly.

.

"What Harry?" James asked. "Have you seen Sirius?"

"I told you." Severus said. "He's taken his boyfriend up to his bedroom."

"_I'm warning you, Sniv...!_" James snapped, cutting himself short with difficulty, wand still on Severus's face. "Harry, go and bang on Sirius's door for me."

.

"Are you going, sir?" Harry asked, awkwardly trying to ignore his dad. "The Ministry still think you were a loyal Death Eater. You can stay here. I asked my dad to rescue you. He knows you were loyal to Dumbledore, as well. But the Ministry doesn't, yet. But Kingsley is there, we can talk to him."

.

"Are The Ministry aware you and Black have jumped into the future, to avoid your own deaths, Potter?" Severus asked.

"_Are you actually threatening me!?"_ James demanded. "_I saved your stinking… Your life._" He finished carefully. "Harry, _will you please go and get Sirius_."

"I have no desire to say goodbye to your nasty little lapdog, Potter." Severus said. "If I'm not a prisoner, I'm leaving. Tell him goodbye when he resurfaces."

.

"...No, you can't." James said with a huff of irritation. "You _owe us your life_ and The Ministry are looking for you."

"Why don't you tell me what you actually want, Potter?" Severus suggested, staring steadfastly at his old school nemesis, so less frightening, compared to the Dark Lord, who murdered and tortured for fun.

"...Wolfsbane Potion." James stated. "You concocted it for Remus when he was working at Hogwarts."

"That's true." Severus said. "And you are incapable of making it."

"I know hundreds of people who can make it." James said, confidently. "I could steal anyone I pleased out of time, to bring here to do it. Harry wanted me to save your life." Severus blinked at him.

"You want me to prepare Wolfsbane Potion for the Werewolf?" He stated. James scowled for a moment before he shrugged, dropping the wand back to his side.

"Yes." He agreed. "If that isn't too much to ask for _saving your precious life._ We have the ingredients."

"Did you and Black have a go yourself?" Severus couldn't resist asking. James stared at him, aware of his son's uneasy eyes on them; a son, Severus was finally starting to appreciate, was not so like his father after all.


	45. Chapter 45

"Mind if I watch?" Regulus asked, hovering in the doorway for a moment before he stepped into the steamy kitchen.

"You could have probably made this yourself." Severus pointed out.

"Maybe." Regulus agreed. "But Sirius wouldn't trust me not to poison the Werewolf. Their own attempts were comical." Severus allowed himself a thin smile, watching the pan boiling carefully.

"The Muggle kitchen doesn't help." He pointed out.

"The garlic crusher saves time." Regulus offered, with a grin. "Hermione has been helping me make salves."

"Why?" Severus asked. Regulus failed to hide a touch of embarrassment.

"My house elf." He said, briefly. "It keeps beating itself about the head. Are you doing it properly?"

"Yes." Severus said, simply. "I don't want a Werewolf running out of control in central London."

"It might get killed by those Muggle Police?" Regulus offered, with a bright smile. "Any chance you could do me a favour, Sevy?"

"Because?" Severus didn't look up from the salamander scales he was powdering.

"Goodness of your heart?" Severus ignored him. "...I was hoping you might lock the door and tell Sirius you're teaching me to make Wolfsbane Potion, so we can both look after the poor Werewolf's needs."

"And you will be where?" Severus asked.

.

Regulus considered it, worrying one of his pale lips for a moment. "I said I'd teach Hermione to fly a broom." He said, finally. "She doesn't know how."

"Yes. As you wish." Severus dismissed him with a wave of his hand. He listened to the footsteps vanishing up the stairs before quickly locking the door.

.

Hermione was waiting in Regulus's bedroom, at the top of the house. She looked rather nervous, which he understood. He also hated being bad at anything, and this was the first thing he'd come across that Hermione was bad at.

.

The broom was a 'Firebolt', stolen from Sirius. A new sort of broom that hadn't existed in Regulus's time. Sirius intended to give it to Harry for his eighteenth birthday, the following month. Regulus's eighteenth birthday had been two months, and another lifetime, ago. Sirius had been long gone. He hadn't sent so much as a card to Regulus. Too busy betraying his family in every way imaginable. It did not bare thinking about, but Regulus felt no quarms in borrowing the broom.

.

Hermione forced a small smile. He watched her tying her hair into a rather fluffy pony tail, feeling less sorry about the stolen broom than ever. He listened to the party, filling the house, two floors below, and opened his window onto the orange glow of the London night sky.

.

_"There used to be stars, Reggie"_, his mother whispered from his memory, standing with a hand on either side of the frame. "_Before the Muggles came with their electricity, Reggie, you could see the heavens; You could see the stars_." The ghost of his mothers hair swayed silkily in the night breeze. His mother's perfume, filling the room. The breath of a sigh, as she stared at the orange glow; the constant growl of traffic through the night, the smell of Muggle cars. He pushed the ghostly memory away and turned back into the room.

.

Hermione accepted his hand, rather too tightly. "Hold onto me really firmly." She told him. Pale lips quirked into a smile he just couldn't repress. She didn't notice, peering grimly at the open window. Regulus released the broom with his left hand, and wrapped his arm firmly around her waist, his right hand guided the broom of the window and into the cool night air.

.

Hermione squeaked. "Don't drop." She told him. "…Or move suddenly… Don't try to be impressive." Regulus laughed. Hermione kept very still, then she laughed as well, pulling a white hand off the broom to reach behind her and snatch a fist full of his robes. "Don't go fast." She added.

.

"So Ron is a Keeper?" Regulus asked, making the broom drift away from the wall of the house.

"…Yes. A keeper." She said, finally.

"And Harry is a Seeker?" Harry would need a broom like this, to be a good Seeker. The Firebolt had seventeen years of technological advances on the last broom Regulus had flown, he imagined it was fast. He'd like to see what it could do.

"...And you?" Hermione gasped, suggesting his drifting was not yet making her feel safe or relaxed. "A Seeker."

"Yes, a Seeker." Regulus had been Slytherin Seeker for three years. There would be a new team at Hogwarts now. He didn't want to go back to school and it would probably be hellish to be a Slytherin in the current Hogwarts. "What position would you play?" Regulus asked, peering at Hermione's fluffy brown hair. He was sure he had never seen a pureblood witch with hair like that.

"…Seeker." She said quickly, gripping him tighter.

"You have to fly very fast." He pointed out. "And grip only with your legs so you're free to catch the Snitch."

"I am so scared of falling." Hermione admitted, still grasping his robes in her death grip.

"I'm not going to let you fall." He assured her, releasing the broom altogether and putting both arms around her waist. The idea of doing that to a pureblood witch was laughable. He would have undoubtably got a good slap across the face. But a pureblood witch would already know how to fly a broom.

.

"They should teach everyone how to fly a broom." He suggested, cautiously. "At Hogwarts. If they're going to have wizards and witches with all different backgrounds there."

"They gave us a couple of lessons in the first year." Hermione told him. "It was awful." She realised she sounded pathetic and resisted the urge to tell him how excellent she was at things that didn't involve brooms.

"...Ginny is a Seeker as well." She added. Regulus tightened his grip on her as he returned one of his hands to the broom, steering them across the roof tops of the city. "She's Harry's girlfriend."

"I know."

"...Ginger hair. At the party. She's Ron's sister."

"I know." Regulus said, again. He was drifting, foolishly low, across Muggle London, keeping Hermione tight against him with a hand round her waist. "...I know she's Harry's girlfriend. And I know she's a Seeker." He said. "She's very fast."

"_You've done this with Ginny?"_ Hermione asked.

"No. She was flying with my brother." Ginny had been 'testing out' this broom. It was how Regulus had known about it's existance.

"And was Harry with them?" Hermione asked, uneasily.

"No." Regulus said, considering that he had definitely said too much. He was reasonably certain Hermione would not be pleased that they were flying on Harry's stolen Birthday present.

.

He wondered what she would do if he hugged her tight enough to mush her fluffy hair into his face. A highly evil part of his brain considered that she would do not much, what with her being stuck on a broom and scared to death of falling off. He didn't do it, of course. But he got a little thrill out of considering it.

.

"Sirius and Ginny... They were _just flying,_ weren't they?" Hermione said. "I mean… Harry really likes Ginny. And Sirius, is really old really. He must be about thirty five." Regulus nodded, still thinking about Hermione's fluffy brown hair. "And Ginny." Hermione added. "Ginny has got through quite a lot of boyfriends... Only boys at school though... And Sirius means so much to Harry... And really, I can't imagine he could have any trouble getting any girlfriend that he wanted."

"No." Regulus said. Hermione was holding his arm tightly around her waist. He'd sped the broom up enough that it could be described as 'moving'. The breeze blew her hair, and the tail of the black ribbon tying it, against his cheek, and he squeezed her slightly tighter against him.

.

"...She's never worried about breaking rules or what people think of her." Hermione muttered, uneasily. "Do you think Sirius _would_ think about Harry's feelings? If James has erased his memory… I'm being stupid. Aren't I, Regulus?"  
.

"No." Regulus said. Hermione looked round at him, holding on very tight, yet looking shocked enough to make him wonder what she'd said while he'd been thinking about her hair, and his arm around her waist. "…You're never stupid." He clarified. "Quite the opposite. You're clearly gifted."

"But Sirius." Hermione said. "He doesn't remember Harry properly and he's completely different. He wouldn't try to chat up Harry's girlfriend, would he?"

.

Regulus let the broom drift towards Hyde Park, as he considered this. Sirius loved Harry and wouldn't want to hurt him. But Sirius thought Harry would be happier with Hermione. _Would Sirius try to off load Harry's current girlfriend like that? Very possibly_, Regulus concluded. Although he'd seen Ginny 'testing out' the Firebolt, and it_ had_ looked entirely innocent. Sirius was shamelessly blatant when he was chatting someone up.

.

"No." Regulus said, finally. "If he wanted to, I'm sure he could. But he wasn't."

"She's very pretty." Hermione stressed.

"If he did, it would be part of a scheme." Regulus said. "But no, he wasn't."

.

He had reached the park. The houses beneath them were replaced with trees and swathes of trimmed grass. Regulus made the broom glide a little, sweeping lower, until they were drifting between the leafy tree tops. It felt like days since he'd last flown here, but the height of the trees stood testament to his lost years.

.

"It's beautiful." Hermione said, finally. "We're in Hyde Park?" He nodded, gliding lower, drifting towards the Serpentine. "What if we meet someone?" She added, as he swooped lower.

"It's the depths of the night." He pointed out. "The Muggles are all asleep." He skimmed the grass for a moment before arching up over the glittering water of the lake. The reflected moon shimmered on its surface as they disturbed the water. Hermione gasped; finally not in a terrified way.

"It's beautiful." She breathed. Regulus nodded.

.

_"It would all be like this, if the Muggles hadn't covered everything in their filthy cities"_, The ghost of his father whispered, gliding through his memory, gliding with him, over the Serpentine of his childhood.

.

"I feel safer over the water." Hermione said. "Silly really. I'm sure I could use a cushioning charm, if I actually fell."

"Once." Regulus told her. "We were flying above the clouds. One of my friends was stunned from his broom and I had to dive and catch him."

"And you did?" Hermione asked. "You actually flew faster than he was falling, and caught him before he hit the ground?" Regulus laughed.

"Yes." He said. "In heavy fog. All that Quidditch training, you see."

"Well, once." Hermione told him. "I flew out of Gringots on a dragon, and dived into a lake, off it's back." They both laughed.

"I heard about that." Regulus assured her. "I was very impressed."

"I was absolutely terrified." Hermione assured him. "We were all covered in burns as well."

.

They were both quiet for a moment, very aware that they had fought on opposite sides of the wars.

.

Regulus flew to the edge of the lake and stopped the broom on the short grass. "We should have brought a picnic." Hermione suggested.

"We used to." Regulus said. "Hang a basket over the broom; swim in the lake then picnic on the grass at dawn. It was nice."

"With Sirius?"

"Yes." Regulus took his cloak off, putting it on the ground for her to sit on. Hermione sat, trying to imagine a younger Sirius and Regulus, coming here to swim and picnic in the depths of the night.

"With your parents?" She added. The insane shrieking portrait of Mrs Black, leaping into her mind.

"My father." Regulus said. "My uncle and aunt. My cousin Evan sometimes."  
"And… your other cousins?" Hermione ventured. Regulus nodded, looking out at the grey water, thoughtfully.

"Lots of us would come."

.

Hermione could feel the letters Bellatrix had carved into her flesh, aching as she thought about Regulus picnicing with her in their childhood. "...Did your mother never come?" She asked, quickly.

"She never left the house." Regulus dismissed it. " Do you want to have a go on the broom alone? Nothing to crash into here, and I'll hold the end, to keep it from flying up."

"Or you could put the Firebolt through its paces?" Hermione suggested. "See what it's capable of."

"That would be rather rude of me." Regulus pointed out.

"No. It would give me time to compose myself." Hermione assured him.

"Alright." Regulus flashed her a grin, trying not to sound too keen. He swung his leg over the broom once more and rocketing into the sky.

.

Hermione watched him weaving dangerously through the trees until he was out of sight. She pulled her knees up to her chin and asked herself a lot of times what on earth she thought she was playing at.


	46. Chapter 46

Grimmuld Place was starting to feel rather full. With Sirius and Regulus occupying their childhood attic bedrooms. James in the Master bedroom, sharing a floor with the recently rescued Mad-eye Moody, and Severus, and Harry in his own room, next door to the Drawing Room.

.

Harry was rather glad the partying had finally stopped, when he woke around mid-day. He staggered down to the kitchen and fell into the chair opposite his father, who was as usual reading and eating toast. He lifted his attention off his current manuscript for long enough to wish his son good morning and flick the kettle into life with his wand.

.

"Looking forward to your birthday, Harry?" James asked.

"Yes. Is that Sirius?" Harry asked, eyeing up Sirius's chair, uncertainly.

"Tucked him up under the inside out invisibility cloak." James said, glancing across at the silvery lump, from which a single pale hand dangled. "So the whole world is invisible when he wakes up… Pads!" He paused, watching for a moment before taking another mouthful of coffee and toast. Harry grinned at him. He couldn't get over how amazing his dad actually was. Everyone loved him. He had been brilliant at the party last night. And he and Sirius had rescued Mad-Eye Moody and Ted Tonks. There had been the 'Snivel's' comment, but Harry was sure that must have been provoked.

.

"…_Pads!_" James yelled again, watching Sirius lurch upright, flailing under the cloak for a moment, before he struggled free.

"You utter moron!" He growled, flopping back onto the chair, laughing for a moment before he went back to sleep.

"...What time did you go to bed?" Harry asked James.

"Didn't." James said. "No point once everyone had gone. Went splendidly, didn't it?" Harry nodded.

"And Snape made Wolfsbane Potion for Remus?" He asked.

"Yes. And he's showing Reggie how to make it." James told him. "Reggie was in Slug Club with your mother. He's good at potion making."

"…_Don't trust Reggie_ _to make it_." Sirius slurred.

"We'll keep a close eye on him." James said. "Hermione is learning as well. She's bound to be a competent potion maker and she'll know the theory, she'll spot if Reggie is messing with the formula."

.

Harry had guessed Hermione was with Reggie during the party. Ron had had a bit of a row with her, about feeding Kreacher treats from the Skiving Snackbox, and she'd vanished for the rest of the evening. He was glad they'd been stuck in the kitchen with Snape.

.

"Did you see Hermione go home?" He asked. "With the Weasleys?"

"Don't know." James paused to consider it for a moment before he shrugged. Harry definitely did _not_ remember seeing Hermione after the Snackbox/Kreacher row.

"Sirius?" He asked, going over to the chair and nudging Sirius's shoulder. "Sirius. Do you remember Hermione going home?"

"..._No._" He forced himself out of the chair. "_No, I don't_." He concluded, and then he stalked out of the room and up the stairs, blowing open Reggie's bedroom door with a bang. Reggie fell off the bed in alarm, the Firebolt hitting him on the head and clattered to the floor. The resulting row brought an excited James, and a panic-stricken Harry running up the stairs.

.

"..._I'm sorry, alright!"_ Regulus yelled, thrusting the Firebolt behind his back as he saw Harry in the doorway.

"..._You light-fingered little snake_!" Sirius snarled, furiously, herding James and Harry firmly back from the door. "..._Get that out of your bedroom, now! And put it back where you found it! Harry... Go down stairs!_"

.

"_Hermione_?" James asked, both eyebrows raised. Sirius stared at him for a moment before giving over to barking laughs.

"_No!"_ He assured them. "What the hell, James? It's something I don't want Harry to see, you idiot... _Touch that again and you're DEAD, Reggie_!"

.

They could hear a knocking at the front door that sounded a lot like one of the Weasley twins and Harry followed Sirius, still chuckling to himself, to answer it. "...Put Hermione back where you found her!" Sirius laughed, swinging the door open.

.

The doorstep was filled with hooded wizards.

.

Keeping his wand directed at Sirus's face, the closest of the hooded wizard levitated a gold-edged parchment across the threshold. It hovered over Sirius's hand for a moment, before drifting onto the doormat and a voice from below the hood asked, "You are Sirius Black?"

.

"Who are you?" Sirius asked.

"Unspeakables." The wizard stated, quietly. "From The Department of Mysteries... Is that him?" A second wizard stepped forward, drawing back his hood to reveal a thin sallow face, dark eyes and a waxy moustache. A face Harry recognised at once as a Death Eater, one from the chamber where Sirius had fallen through the veil. "Yes." He confirmed. "That is Sirius Black and the one behind him is Harry Potter."

"Good. You need to come with us, Mr Black."

"I don't think so." Sirius said, just as calmly. "..._You're a dead man, Rabastan."_ He added, with a growl. The moustached wizard leered at him.

"_I don't think so, Sirius."_ He said, softly.

.

"We, The Unspeakables of The Ministry…" The first wizard stated. "Have been granted authority to enter these four walls and detain you. You must, by order of The Ministry of Magic, leave with us."

"…_Sirius_." James murmured, suddenly pressing invisibly between his son and best friend. "_Sirius; the threshold is protected. Don't step across it_." Sirius tilted his head, just slightly. "_…And I have the Elder Wand in my hand."_ James whispered. "_Do you want me to take Mouthy or Rabastan? Gesture with your hand_…"

.

"You have no choice and must come." The speaker added, emotionlessly. He waved his wand slowly through the air until the doorway suddenly glowed an angry orange, a mesh of light visible for a moment. "We have the full authority of the Ministry at our disposal, Mr Black. We will enter the house."

"And _everyone_ inside will be '_thoroughly' _questioned." Rabastan added, watching Sirius carefully.

"You have authority to enter my house only for the purpose of retrieving me'?" Sirius asked, thoughtfully.

"_Sirius, they will enter the house, regardless_." James whispered to him, urgently.

.

Harry watched Sirius pick up the gold edged parchment, scanning it quickly for this information. Presumably it confirmed Sirius's assumption; the Unspeakables couldn't come into the house to discover Reggie, James or the others, if Sirius went with them.

.

Completely calmly, Sirius stepped through the doorway; the Unspeakables lunged forward, seizing hold of his arms and robes and disapparating in a wild swirl of crimson and blue robes, until nothing was left but the empty street.


	47. Chapter 47

"And that was?" Remus asked, hurrying up the steps with Teddy in his arms.

"Unspeakables from the Ministry." James said, yanking the door closed, and snatching the parchment out of Harry's hand. "With this… _Permission to enter the property known as Twelve Grimmauld Place by any means necessary, for the purpose of removing Sirius Orion Black, deceased, for unacceptable breaches of law fourteen, amendment seven, on the use of instruments capable of time travel and section three hundred and fifty nine, causing chronological disruption_… He went with them so they couldn't come inside and see the rest of us. _Bugger."_

.

"Bugger!?" Remus demanded, snatching the parchment out of James's hands.

"Yes... _Bugger_." James said, looking rather offended. "Looks like we might have to go back two days and make him hide somewhere?"

"_How do they know, James!?" _Remus demanded.

"I'm not a crystal ball, Remus." James reminded him. "Snape?"

"_Snape..._?" Remus passed Teddy to James, who passed him to Harry, and they both pushed past Regulus and ran up the stairs.

.

"We can use the Time-turner." Harry told a shocked and cursing Regulus, as calmly as he could.

"Find someone to look after that baby." Regulus told him. "_Accio Firebolt!_"

"You've got a Firebolt?" Harry stammered.

"Now I have." Regulus said. "The _baby_, Harry." Harry put Teddy down in the pram by the door.

"Remus!" He yelled. "Teddy's in our pram, in the hall!" He swung himself onto the broom and snatched Regulus round the waist as they rocketed through the door, disapparated and to The Burrow, where they hit the defensive charms that still surrounded the Weasley's home. Regulus landed on his feet, like a cat, which was more than could be said for Harry, who was thrown into the chicken coop.

.

All the Weasleys were already in the yard and helped pull Harry back to his feet, interupting each other as they tried to explain. They too had had a visit from the Unspeakables.

"Did they take Fred?" Harry asked George.

"I am Fred, you moron." Fred, not George, in formed him. "Two ears?" He gestured, impatiently. "They've taken Hermione away to question."

"Gone!" Molly said, twisting the dishcloth in her hands, fearfully. "Unspeakables. Why would they want Hermione?"

.

.

.

Sirius did not like enclosed rooms. He could not remember Azkaban at all, so he didn't know if it was because of that or not. He was reasonably certain that James would be on top of this mess already. But that didn't stop him feeling like he couldn't breathe properly in the enclosed cell of a room, hundreds of meters beneath the London streets.

There was no way of telling how many hours he'd been here. Of all the possible people that could have appeared in the cell doorway, Hermione Granger was low on the list. This was a Hermione that looked considerably more frightened than he was, which was enough to make Sirius Black pull himself together.

.

Hermione took a deep breath and launched into a strange speech. "...When we were out stargazing." She stated, putting a finger to her lips, to warn him not to interrupt. "We were looking at _Leo. '_You' said '_you'_ were named after the brightest star _in that constellation." _She said, excessively meaningfully._ "_It was romantic. That '_you' _would say that."

.

Sirius studied her in silence. Hermione willed him to understand. Surely Sirius, who's whole family were named after stars, would know that 'Regulus' and not 'Sirius' was the brightest star in the constellation of Leo. Would he realise she was talking about Regulus without blurting out his brother's name?

.

"...Wow! What on Earth was 'I' thinking, taking you out stargazing?" Sirius said, dryly. Hermione nodded, relieved that Sirius had realised she meant Regulus but certain Sirius didn't realised how serious the situation was. She was absolutely certain that they were being listened to.

.

"...'You' were only being really nice." She clarified. "Because..._ I_ used the Time-turner to jump you through time. _I did_."

"Yes, clever you." Sirius said, with an amused smile. "So, exactly how '_nice'_ was _'I'_ being, on a scale of mildly inappropriate to needing to give myself a good beating? I apologise for _'my'_ atrocious behaviour and I'll be sure to chastise _myself_ for this as soon as I get the chance."

.

"Sirius." Hermione interrupted him. "We were seen by Muggles. They have camera's that watch the city. CCTV cameras. The Ministry have had to do a major cover up."

"It was impressively stupid of 'us' to get caught out." Sirius said. "Remind me again why the Muggles even took noticed of us?"

"Because we were... flying on a broomstick." Hermione muttered. "And it was filmed on security cameras that the Muggles have watching the city through the night."

.

Sirius nodded, mulling this over. "...Right." He said, finally. "Why were '_we'_ so stupid?"

"I didn't think... The Ministry had to cover it up." Hermione pressed on. "They watched the footage, and they saw us leaving Twelve Grimmauld Place, and going back there. The footage was pretty fuzzy because it was night-time but someone recognised me and... you. Because..." She said. "Who else would it be, coming and going from Twelve Grimmauld Place."

.

"Wow!" Sirius laughed. "Someone at The Ministry with eagle-eyes there." He pointed out. "Managing to recognising it was '_me' _on that broom!"

"They concluded I'd used the Time-turner to save you from Azkaban and death." Hermione told him.

"Who knew you were so ingenius, daring and clever?" Sirius suggested.

"Well." Hermione said. "..._I love you_."

.

Sirius had just opened his mouth, but at this he froze. Hermione gave him a warning look. "…_I love you_." She said again. "I love you _enough to get myself a lengthy sentence in Azkaban? _It was just_ me, _did it,_ on my own_."

"Right. That obviously means a lot to me." Sirius assured her. "I just... I seriously hope that you don't love '_me'_. Because if you love '_me'_, then you clearly don't know what '_I_' am like. I wouldn't let yourself be too impressed with 'my' stargazing trips on stolen brooms, Hermione."

"Stop it!" Hermione warned him. "Sirius, this is serious. They're being lenient with me, because I was instrumental in the fall of Voldemort, and because I am very young. That's why I've been allowed to speak to you. But they're keeping you here, until they retrieve the Time-turner, and then... And then, they are going to destroy it, _and everything will revert to its correct order."_

.

"They'll have to find it first." Sirius pointed out. "And Mundungus Fletcher is a hard man to track down. He'll probably have sold it by now, anyway." Hermione tried not to look impressed as she nodded.

"I'm sure you're right." She said. "I'm glad _you gave it to Mundungus Fletcher._ I'll keep trying to convince them to release you. I won't give up on you."

"Thanks, Hermione." Sirius said, grinning broadly at her attempts to sound 'in love with him'. "I love you too!" He stood up pulling her into his arms and pressing his lips against her ear. "_Don't go back to Grimmauld Place."_ He whispered. "_No matter what. And warn the others to get out."_ Hermione nodded. Sirius stepped back, smiling brightly at her again. "Don't give up on our love." He said. "...Darling!"


	48. Chapter 48

**AN: I messed up on the last chapter. The last paragraph should have read... **"Thanks, Hermione." Sirius said, grinning broadly at her attempts to sound 'in love with him'. "I love you too!" He stood up pulling her into his arms and pressing his lips against her ear. "_Don't go back to Grimmauld Place."_ He whispered. "_No matter what. And warn the others to get out."_ Hermione nodded. Sirius stepped back, smiling brightly at her again. "Don't give up on our love." He said. "...Darling!" **Sorry. :(**

.

Ron was standing in the humid kitchen, holding one end of what appeared to be a meter length of well chewed gum. He was wearing an apron that clearly stated 'Don't chase the Chaser. Keep the Keeper!" Which he thought hilarious. Fred, who was holding the other end of the enormous slab of lumpy gum, was wearing a similar apron captioned 'Don't ride the broom, ride the Beater!" George's apron. "You can tell I'm a Beater because…" Was so offensive Hermione had refused to let it filter into her mind.

.

"Hold this!" Fred shouted, as Hermione rushed into the kitchen. "And don't let go, no matter what!"

"I can't." Hermione said. "I've just been cautioned by the auror's. Ron. I need to talk to you, right now."

"Four days work." George complained, wiping sweat off his forehead awkwardly. "Hold the gum or stay out of the kitchen. We'll be done in thirteen and a half minutes, precisely."

.

"Ron. Sirius is still there." Hermione said. "You have no idea how serious this is. I need to talk to you, right now."

"Remind me why I care?" Ron snapped, focused on stretching the gum further across the kitchen.

"Because it's Sirius and it's serious!" Hermione snapped. All three Weasley brothers laughed, Ron humourlessly. Hermione crawled underneath the gum, sure Ron tried to lower it into her thick bushy hair, and hurried through the house, looking for Molly or Arthur.

.

"Oi!" Ron said, catching her arm. Behind him the gum hit the floor, with a slap. George and Fred yelled in outrage, their shouts fading as Ron shoved the door closed. "Why did Sirius get taken?" He asked, hands on hips, glaring like Molly.

"Well…" Hermione said, cheeks colouring as she realised Ron obviously knew why Sirius had been taken. "Regulus was showing me how to ride a broom." She said, pushing her hair behind her ears. "And the Muggle security cameras that watch London recorded the broom flying from Twelve Grimmauld Place. They thought I was with Sirius."

"So really I ought to go to The Ministry and clarify that it was Regulus you were getting cosy with, should I?" Ron said, angrily.

"Oh, please don't be stupid, Ron." Hermione warned him. "He was teaching me to fly a broom. It's something every Witch should know how to do. This is hardly the time..."

"How many times have I offered to get you on a broom?" Ron interrupted her.

"Your idea of teaching is shoving me on a broom, and laughing with your brothers while I scream and crashing into things." Hermione told him, pointedly.

"And what's Regulus Death-Eater Black's way of doing it?" Ron shouted back. "A bit more 'hands on' was it?"

"Oh really, Ron!" Hermione snapped, wishing she could not be so red faced right now. "You are being very stupid. And Sirius is in real danger. They all are. The Unspeakables at The Ministry want to destroy the Time-turner. They said it would return everyone to their original times, to die."

.

"So basically you're telling me that your sneaking off in the night with the Slytherin creep has probably cost Fred his life, _again!_ Well done, Hermione! You really are the brightest witch of your age!"

"Oh shove off, Ron!" Hermione yelled at him, stalked back into the kitchen, where Fred and George were picking bits of dust and crumbs out of their gum, asking where Molly and Arthur were.

"Looking for James and your new boyfriend!" Ron said, stomping back.

"_Ooooh!"_ Fred and George both laughed together.

"They're not at Grimmauld Place, are they?" Hermione asked, in alarm.

"Don't know. Don't care." Ron pointed out.

"Sirius said..." Hermione was interrupted again, this time my George.

"James will sort it." He said.

"Yes." Fred agreed, confidently. "Messr Prongs will deal with it."

.

.

In the bowls of The Ministry, Sirius lay on the low bed, in the cell like room. There was no sound and the silence rung. It was also very hot. He put his forearm over his eyes and tried to think about the previous evening. He wondered if Dora was still loving him for rescuing Moody an her father. He wondered what Teddy was doing and if he was alright. He wondered what James was doing to sort this out.

.

.

What James was busy doing, was shepherding people out of Grimmauld Place, beneath his invisibility cloak. Sirius had not been exaggerating when he'd said Orion Black had put 'every spell known to wizard-kind' on his house. Despite James's considerable skill, and his ownership of the Elder Wand, despite the fact that Orion was _twenty years dead,_ James was _still_ unable to break the anti-disapparation ward. He was so annoyed. They'd had to use the invisibility cloak to move everyone , two by two, far enough down the street to disapparate.

.

Ted Tonks was now hidden at his own home, with his wife, Andromeda; Moody was back in his old house, with Remus, Dora, and Teddy. Fred, of course, was with the Weasleys. He was reasonably safe, because like Dora and Remus, he was officially still alive. Unless the Time-turner was actually captured and destroyed. Snape, while not officially dead, was a listed Public Enemy and so James had taken him, along with Regulus and Kreacher to hide at Remus's 'house'.

.

James had only gone back to Grimmuald Place when he'd remembered the highly-secret birthday present which Sirius had promised Harry would like, better than anything. This was still in Sirius's bedroom, and James had gone back for it, reluctantly. Personally he thought Harry was going to prefer Sirius's present, which was a top of the range broomstick. Sirius had explained the best-possible-present idea _before_ James had obliterated his memory, so was now impossible to question... All this was beside the point, James reminded himself. His current problem; the house was now full of Unspeakables; wizards cloaked in crimson and sapphire, waving glowing wands about. James was watching, from his vantage point, standing on Sirius's chest of draws; invisible, with the special present clamped incredibly awkwardly against his chest; cursing stupid Orion Black and his security issues.

.

James Potter was one of the very last few people left who knew _why_ Orion Black had devoted vast amounts of time and magic into making his house unplottable, unbreachable, and so well protected that 'Lord Voldemort himself couldn't find or enter it', two decades after Orion's own death.

.

The very awkward present made a loud noise and five Unspeakables swung around, using reveal spells. James smited them with the Elder Wand and hopped down, sprinting out of the room and running for his life until he could get through the front door and clear of Orion's stupid protection charms. With a whip-crack bang he disapparated to the place Remus very loosely termed a 'house'.


	49. Chapter 49

"It is I, Little Red Riding Hood!" James called, knocking on the door. "May I lift up the latch and let myself in, Grandma?!"

"Any news?" Remus asked, opening the door himself.

"Give me a chance." James told him. "This is… Werewolfy."

"That's because I'm a Werewolf, James." Remus said, without a flicker of a smile. He looked very stressed and as a consequence, very old. James wondered if it would be foolish to obliviate some of Remus's memories as well. Probably would, he concluded.

.

He tried to adjust his grip on the hidden present, which got its beak free and pecked him, hard. "Stupid owl!" He cursed, letting it flap crossly into the air. It moved to perch on an exposed rafter before spotting Harry and soaring down onto his shoulder.

.

"…Hedwig?" Harry whispered, hardly daring to consider the possibility.

"Happy early Birthday!" James said. "I wanted to get you the Firebolt but Sirius thought you'd like an owl, that owl, better. He fell off a broom catching her. It was hilarious. Her rescue took more attempts than Moody's! Want to know how we did it?"

"…_Hedwig!?"_ Harry stammered. Hedwig cooed, nibbling Harry's ear gently.

"That is one weird name." James assured him. "Sirius couldn't remember it, after I obliviated his memory, and I thought I must have recalled it incorrectly, although I do have a photographic memory, so I shouldn't have… Well, yes. Happy, slightly early, Birthday, Harry!"

"_HEDWIG!_!" Harry yelled, making all Hedwig's feathers ruffle up. "_Hedwig! It really is! You rescued Hedwig_!"

"Indeed I did! It was never Hedwig in your cage." James told him. "We swapped the owls before you set off. And right under what's left of Moody's nose." He added, smugly. "We tried mid-air swaps first. So funny!"

"_Oh, Hedwig_!" Harry said, holding the owl rather too tightly, which she endued because she too was very happy to be reunited with Harry.

.

"Lovely though this is." Regulus interupted, finally. "Have you found out where my brother is yet?"

"Department of Mysteries, possibly. Your house was crawling with Unspeakables."

"And Hermione?" Remus asked.

"No news yet. We could do with finding out where they are and rescuing them really. If that doesn't pan out we'll just go back in time and stop Reggie being such an idiot, in the first place."

"There were no camera's watching London at night in my time." Regulus pointed out, in his defense. "And frankly, that is a good example of why we shouldn't all be living in hiding, while Muggles rule the planet."

"I strongly recommend you don't start spouting your Wizard Supremacy beliefs here, Reggie." James warned him. "Unless you want to spend the rest of your stay with your tongue curled up into a little ball."

.

"So, we don't know?" Remus concluded, bring the discussion back to Sirius. "I'll find out what I can, through Dora. I'll bring some food back with me but there's an apple tree in the garden."

"Oh great!" James mocked. "All the home comforts."

"I haven't been here for three years." Remus pointed out. "…I'll bring blankets."

"Don't bother. I'll transfigure something." James assured him. "Just get some food."

"And news." Regulus said. Remus nodded, stepping outside the door before and leaving them, together, in the cold, one room hovel.

.

"_Hedwig!"_ Harry beamed. James raised his eyebrows and tried not to laugh.

"Excellent!" He said. "Snivels! Lay a fire. Regulus! Take your elf and go collect some firewood. And try not to make a pass at anyone's girlfriend, while you're out."

"You are so hilarious. And I wasn't." Regulus groused, picking up a battered basket that looked like it was meant for firewood, and escaping into the privacy of the woodland outside. James appraised the grey walls, simple wooden furniture and slightly moldy books. He decided the hovel was actually hilariously 'Remus' and set to work on an charms to make the building endurable for what was hopefully going to be a very short stay.

.

Above them the rafters were half exposed. James climbed a solid enough ladder to examine the crude loft space, half the size of the room below, it lacked a proper side wall and the abandoned bed linen moved sinisterly as rats or mice scurried away from his presence.

"Please let there be a toilet outside!" He called down, as the creaky door announced Regulus's return.

"There is a toilet out the back." It was not Regulus but Remus, already returned. "Afraid of roughing it, Lord Potter?"

"No." James jumped down again. "But only because I am afraid of _nothing!_ Your house sucks!"

"Charming." Remus chuckled, dropping a cloth bundle on the table and tapping it with his wand to make it unroll into a tablecloth, already laid out with bread, cold meats and bottles of Butterbeer.

"Thank God!" James exclaimed, breaking open a roll and filling it with ham and chicken. "Harry! Come and eat! Talk, Remus."

.

"Hermione's back at the Burrow." Remus said, watching Harry tearing up strips of ham to feed the owl on his shoulder. "Sirius is in the Ministry building in London. One of the lowest levels. They think Hermione rescued him and they've let her speak to him, presumably in the hopes of overhearing where the Timeturner is. She said he was fine and not taking it seriously enough."

"Sirius-ness and seriousness can't exist in the same space." James suggested, eating hungrily. "Snivels! Come and eat!" He added, generously. "Moony, shout Reggie, he's supposed to be collecting wood. Might have found a Muggle to chat up though. You know what he's like."

"I'm sure it was entirely innocent." Remus said, flicking a pointed glance in Harry's direction.

"I'm sure it wasn't!" James laughed. "Those sleazy Slytherins!" He swallowed the last of his roll and went over to the door, brushing his hands off on his trousers and peering out into the sunlit woods. "_Reggie_!" He yelled. "_Stop flirting with girls and get some food!_ …At least you have a nice view, Moony… _Reggie!_ …He has totally missed his chance to eat._ Accio apple!_"

.

An explosion of apples abruptly hammered against the door and shutters, smashing into the walls, as James dived out of the way. "Elder Wand." He explained. "Sometimes too powerful. _Accio 'apple'_." Which he caught, taking a bite. Remus moved him aside, walking carefully across the weed-filled yard, to a small stone lavatory and a stooping wood-store.

James ate the apple in the doorway, watching him searching. Chucking the core, he came outside as well, pointing the Elder Wand away from the house and commanding '_Homo Revilus_!" into the dappled trees. "Oh bugger." He added, trying hard not to sound too alarmed when the spell revealed no human life. "_We've lost Reggie._"


	50. Chapter 50

**AN:Sorry about the massive gap in posting chapters. I have had no internet. I am so glad to be back writing again. Hope you like it...**

Hermione sat on Dora's bed, trying to be calm. Sirius, considering the awfulness of the situation, had been very calm. Ron, who she should have been able to depend on at times like this, had been an utter idiot; just like when he'd left them during the Horcrux hunt. Because he was jealous of her spending time with Regulus; when _he_ himself never wanted to spend any time with her.

.

"Sirius will worm his way out." Moody said, abruptly, taking a swig of what Hermione dearly hoped wasn't polyjuice potion from his hip flask. "He always does."

"He did die." Hermione pointed out, worrying the hem of her jumper with fingers that needed a book to flick through.

"Didn't we all." Moody said, taking another mouthful.

"Not helping, Moody." Dora flashed him a grin. "Why don't you get better acquainted with Teddy?"

"Because he's a baby." Moody growled. "Fruit have more personality."

"It's a shame you don't." Dora said, brightly. "Leave us have a chat, Moody. Oh, and flick the kettle on. Have one yourself, why don't you."

"In my own house!" Moody grumbled, limping out the door.

.

"Got a bit of a bad limp there, Moody!" Dora yelled after him, laughing at Mad-eyes slightly inaudible growl. "…He's got a right limp on him." Dora turned back to Hermione. "Because Sirius had to make the Death Eaters think they'd found his body. Know what he did?"

"Sirius?"

"Yes. Dug up a corpse, pounded it's face till it was unrecognisable, scooped out an eye and shoved Alastor's magic one into the socket, carved off the corpses leg and replaced it with Alastor's synthetic one, before dropping it out of the sky. Then he went home, scrubbed up, and spent the afternoon lounging about in an armchair pretending he's a sweet little puppy." Hermione didn't say anything, not sure what the correct response to a statement like that was. Dora smiled at her. "Does that honestly sound like someone who can't take care of himself?" She asked.

"It sounds disgusting." Hermione said. Dora nodded.

"Totally." She agreed. "But if he hadn't, he wouldn't have been able to save Alastor's life. And Alastor is a true hero. You will never meet another man like him."

"I'm sure it was worth it." Hermione agreed. "And it's not like he hurt anyone. It's just..."

"Don't worry, I am equally glad I didn't have to be the one with the dirty hands. What did happen with Reggie? Is Ron just being a fool or is there something going on?"

"He's a fool." Hermione dismissed it. "The Unspeakables are trying to find Mundungus Fletcher. Sirius said he'd given the Time-turner to him. Do you have any idea where we could find him, to warn him?"

"No." Dora said. "If I knew where Mundungus was, he would be in Azkaban now."

"But the Unspeakables will be looking for him. And as soon as they find him they'll know Sirius didn't give him the Time-turner."

"We'll have to make sure Sirius is out before then." Hermione nodded, but she was reasonably certain it wasn't going to be that simple.

.

.

.

Mundungus Fletched was asleep. It was early afternoon, which was not an unreasonable time to find him sleeping. The past weeks had been highly lucrative. The Battle at Hogwarts had resulted in countless arrests, homes vacated, families moving valuables around, or leaving them altogether unattended. Fate had indeed been generous.

.

It was early afternoon. He was not quite as asleep as he was pretending. The uncurtained window allowed hot glaring sunlight to hit his sore eyes, and he had slept long enough already to kill the worst of his hangover.

.

Realising the light was in fact unnaturally bright, Mundungus opened his eyes, blinking irritable at the large canine patronus before him. His first thought was of course, Sirius. Mainly because Sirius was one of the only people who had ever sent a Patronus to him, and also because Sirius patronus looked a lot like this. But he was suspicious, on two counts. The first being that the patronus didn't speak and the second, because Sirius was dead. Long dead. Mundgungus rubbed his eyes, swung his feet off the bed and spat on the floor.

.

Remus Lupin, he decided. Similar Patronus to Sirius's. A wolf and The Grim didn't look that different, when they were made out of light. More sinisterly, it could be Tonks's own patronus, still trying to hunt him down for getting Mad-eye killed. He'd heard her patronus had taken on her new husband's freaky animal form.

.

Not that it was Mundungus's fault that Mad-eye didn't have the sense to disapparate out of the beam of a direct curse, thousands of feet above the earth. "…And why should I be his human shield?" He muttered irritably, scratching at a the itchy ginger stubble on his jaw. He edged around the glowing animal that took up too much of the cluttered floorspace, already piled with boxes of merchandise.

.

Scowling at the silent patronus, he stomped off to the bathroom. Thankfully it had faded away when he returned to find his boots. Flashing the empty air an irritable scowl he cast it out of his mind.

.

.

"So, we either go to the Ministry now." James said, mainly to Remus, although his son and Moody were also huddled around the cramped table in Remus's old home. "Or we wait two days, then use the Time-turner to go back to today. That way, if we run into any trouble, we can simply shove the pin in the Time-turner and be out of there in a split second."

"Hermione thought Sirius was fine." Remus pointed out.

"He might not still be fine. One of the Unspeakables was Rabastan Lestrange." Harry said. "And he was a Death Eater."

"What? What?! A_re you sure_?" Remus asked.

"Yes." Harry told him. "His brother is Rudolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix's husband. I've seen him before."

"I know who he is." Remus assured him. "Are you sure he was with the Unspeakables that took Sirius?"

"I recognised his face." Harry said. "And Sirius called him Rabastan."

.

James simply said "_Yes_…But." He added. "If anything very bad happens, we _can_ go back in time and undo it. Then it'll never have happened."  
"Yeah, or you could just obliviate his memory." Remus said, a touch coldly. He got up, pacing the single room of his former home.

.

"So... Any luck tracking Mundungus down?" James asked. Remus frowned at him, thinking.

"No." He said. "Not yet."

"And your wife will be in work in the morning." James pointed out. "Maybe the Auror department will know something. Maybe she'll be able to find something out."

"Like why Rabastan Lestrange is working in the Ministry." Remus growled.

"Wasn't it Rabastan…?"

"_Yes."_ Remus interrupted James at once. "Yes, it was." He snapped. Harry watched him pacing about, rubbing at the scar that ran past his right eye.

.

"'Wasn't what Rabastan'?" Harry asked.

"Had a run-in with Sirius." James said. "In the first war."

"Maybe he won't remember." Harry suggested. James laughed, nervously.

"He'll remember." He said. "I think we should probably see what we can do."

"So do I." Remus assured him.

"You're not going to wait?" Harry asked, in alarm. "But what if you get caught?"

"Son, you broke into the Ministry when you were Public Enemy Number One." James pointed out. "I think I can handle it with my Invisibility Cloak and the Elder Wand."

"If you get caught they'll take the Time-turner." Harry pointed out. "What if Hermione's right and you'll all go back to your original times, to die, if it's broken?"

"Son, the amount of reading I've done since I've been here, there is nothing I don't know about Time-turners." James assured him.

"And?" Harry asked. "If it gets broken…?" James chuckled.

"We won't let it get broken." He pointed out. "Therefore, no one will be going back anywhere."


	51. Chapter 51

**AN: Hey :) Thank you for reviews for the last chapter Snarky and Hule! It's fun to be writing this again.**

The Ministry was closed up for the night. In the booth, where wands were weighed in and registered, a portly security guard read a pulpy novel, cover folded round on itself.

.

The Ministry did not appear to have changed since James had worked there after leaving school. The golden statue that had once dominated the Atrium was missing and some renovation work looked to be in progress, maybe as a result of the war, but nothing much else appeared changed.

.

Leaving Remus in the shadows of the fireplace they'd arrived through, James headed over to the guard. Hidden beneath his Invisibility Cloak he watched for a moment to check the man was engrossed in his book, then removed a parcel from his back pocket and tossed it high in the air. He had been aiming for the counter, but managed to smite the guard on his balding head and had to stifled a laugh. The man leaped backwards, scowling at the high ceiling, in search of an owl. He squinted at the address label, trying to fathom James's best attempt at neat handwriting.

.

While the package was signed in and checked for curses, James retrieved Remus, and they both crept, bent kneed and utterly awkward, as the guard lead them over to the lifts.

.

"Nothing much has changed." James observed, quietly. His voice was swallowed up in the enormity of the Atrium. Remus nodded. There was nothing but silence until the guard yanked back the metal grates on the lifts. Remus flinched and James chuckled.

"If they didn't know we were here before…?" Remus mouthed.  
"They'll only see the guard." James pointed out, holding Remus so neither of them pulled off part of the cloak, as they crouched beside the oblivious wizard, dutifully delivering their package to the Department of Mysteries. "…This is cosy, Moony." He whispered, mouth against Remus's ear.

"That's hilarious." Remus murmured back, grimacing at the tickling breath in his ear. "…What do you thing Rabastan Lestrange is doing, working in the Ministry?" James shrugged, glancing at the guard, who'd abruptly started to whistle to himself.

"…The Ministry was pretty corrupt in our time and the Lestranges are a rich and ancient family."

"_Of sadists_." Remus finished, with an uneasy sigh. James nodded.

"We'll find Sirius." He said. "And then we'll have to lie low… Anywhere but your 'fairytale' hovel I think." Remus ignored him, watching the levels glide past, as the lift descended deeper and deeper into the bowels of The Ministry.

.

o0o

The stupid Patronus had made Mundungus edgy. The last thing he needed was Nymphadora Tonks and her crazy Werewolf husband trying to murder him. He'd never wanted to fly that stupid suicide mission with Mad-eye. No one had asked his opinion.

.

The whole Order of the Phoenix had never been anything but grief for Mundungus. Always looked down on by everyone, chastised publicly, beaten over the head by a house-elf with a frying pan, forced to fly dangerous and stupid missions, and then live in fear of his life because he disapparated (surely the only sensible thing one could do when about to get hit in the back with a curse, a couple of thousand feet above the Earth). Moody would have disapparated as well, if he'd had half a brain. What use was he to Potter, dead? And why should Mundungus be expected to end his life as Moody's human shield?

.

The patronus padded about in Mundungus's mind. Sirius was one of the few people who had never judged Mundungus and found him lacking. Sirius's patronus, the silvery image of his animagus form, had looked the same as the wolf. Vaguely he remembered that Remus' patronus was so similar to Sirius' that there had been a confusion over whether Tonks's patrona was The Grim or the Wolf, when it changed shortly after Sirius died.

Bothered. He was. And irritated.

He decided the solution would be to get very drunk. The best solution he had ever found, to all of life's problems. He bought Firewhiskey (because nothing else hit the spot like it) and red wine (because he was thinking about Sirius and feeling maudlin). It was after a fair few glasses of this reasonably undrinkable cocktail that he decided he needed to visit Arabella Figg.

.

Arabella Figg was a squib, which of course is not a Muggle. To be a squid you _have_ to be a member of a Wizarding family, in this case, the Fletchers. Arabella, for over a decade, had been Mundungus's only surviving family member. Despite this, they had very little in common and avoided each other as much as was possible.

.

Despite the fact that Mr Figg had been dead for many years, and Arabella had no-one for company, but her many keezle-cat crosses, she still seemed less than pleased to find Mundungus banging on her door, in the early hours of Monday morning.

.

"...I's been thinkin' 'bout Sirius." Mundungs told her, treading on an exiting cat as he tried to squeeze under the arm Arabella held her door closed with. "...An' Sirius always liked yer cats." He added, morosely.

"Get out of my house, Dung!" Arabella hissed at him, bristling.

"...Charmin'." Mundungus told her. "...So, strangest thing 'appened, Figgy. ...Thought I saw 'is patronus."

"Maybe it was The Grim, predicting your imminent death?" Arabella suggested, optimistically. "I heard what you did to poor Alastor, you worthless excuse for a wizard!"

"...But it were the Werewulf's partonus." He added. "...An' I bloody 'ate that stuck up Werewulf. ...Were dus a Werewulf get off thinkin'… get off thinkin'…"

.

"Thinking what, Dung?" Arabella asked him, tartly. "You do know I have a great deal of respect for Remus Lupin, don't you? He's ten times the wizard you'll ever be, Werewolf or not. Now go home and sober up!"

"…Unless it was 'er." Mundungus pointed out, waggling the bottle at Arabella, and sending a splash of red wine onto her slippers and a cat circling her ankles. "...Unless it was that Tonks'! …Cause 'er patronus is gon all fluffy an' wuffy as well, 'asn't it? ...Hmmm?"

.

Arabella paused, watching Mundungus repeating 'fluffy an' wuffy' to himself thoughtfully. "Dung." She said, sharply. "Surely, even drunk, you can tell the difference between a dog and a wolf. Which was it?"

"It was fluffy." Mundungus told her, which was not entirely true. "an' it was wuffy." Although the very fact that the patronus hadn't said anything was what had made it particularly hard to identify.

"You are an _idiot_, Dung!" Arabella told him, angrily. "Are you too drunk to disapparate?"

"Love, I am _never_ too drunk to disapparate." Dung slurred at her, adopting a Sirius-esque smirk. "I apparated here, didn't I?"

"Then you had better take us to Grimmauld Place." She said, reaching back into the hall for her handbag. "And get on with it, Dung."


	52. Chapter 52

The lift dropped endlessly. The guard continued to whistle. James beckoned Remus over and whispered irritatingly in his ear. He sounded far too excited for the circumstances. For a moment Remus actually wondered if this was his greater age showing, but he was quite certain he had always felt like this, and that James's love of misadventure had been just as irksome when they had been breaking Sirius out of yet another detention, or indeed when they had been fleeing for their lives in the First Wizarding War.

.

The lift stopped with a clang, and the guard pulled the screeching gate open to leading them into a long corridor, ending in a single black door. Grasping Remus in something close to a headlock, James scrambled along the corridor beneath the cloak, dragging them through the door almost on top of the guards feet. At least, they were in the Department of Mysteries.

.

"…Well, this is mysterious." James hissed into his ear. The guard apparently agreed with James, peering at the curved wall of doors head of them. A quiet hiss pre-empted a sudden movement and the wall of doors spun, fast. The wall lamps blurred into a single circle of light before stopping sharply. The guard sighed, heavily. He looked at the address on the package again, and scratched his head for a moment, before putting the parcel carefully in the centre of the room and turning to leave.

"Oh, bugger." He muttered. James gave an audible snort of laughter, covering his mouth. Ignoring him, Remus watched the guard studying the circle of identical unmarked doors before cautiously crossing the room and opening one.

.

A cool breeze blew into the room, rippling the invisible folds of the cloak. It was the Death Chamber. The room where Sirius had died. Beneath the cloak they both waited, as the guard peered down into the echoing cavern before hurriedly thrusting the door closed. The doors spun again as he walked to another, and they were all forced to wait until the room became still again.

.

James sighed. Remus ignored him, thinking about Rabastan Lestrange, who had been party to torturing Alice Longbottom and her husband into insanity. Remus remembered. He remembered what Sirius and Rabastan had done to each other as well, and he felt sick with worry, unable to think why they had waited so long to come down here. He willed the guard to hurry up and get out of the room. He glanced at James, who was tapping the Elder Wand impatiently against his knee, and wondered what he was thinking.

.

Endlessly the guard attempted to randomly chose the correct door, finally he got lucky, revealing the corridor to the lift and leaving them alone. James jumped up, removing the cloak and standing to stretch his legs.

.

"Time Chamber." Remus said. James glanced round at him.

"…Is probably where we need to go?" He suggested.

"You call out the name." Remus said. "And the door opens."

"Sure about that?" James asked, gesturing the lack of open doors.

"Time room." Remus said. "…Department of Time."

"I Solomnly Swear I need the Time Department." James said.

"Time Department." Remus tried. "…Death Chamber." He added. A door to their right swung open. James peered through it, aware of Remus's hand holding him back. "I don't know what the place, where Time is studied, is called." He said, pulling the door closed and letting the room spin. James nodded, waiting for the doors to stop rotating before crossing to a door on the left and hitting it with a Allohomora from the Elder Wand.

"Master of Death." He said, gesturing happily to his chest as he peered into the shimmering twilight ahead of him. "…Master of Death, of Time and of _The Disco Room!"_ He beckoned Remus to follow him, pulling the Invisibility Cloak back over his head.

.

Tiny twinkled spots of refracted light floated over every surface, revealing clocks, as far as the eye could see. There was no sign of life, the air full of ticking.

.

"How did you know?" Remus asked quietly, following James's just visible feet, over to a bell jar in which a Doxy was slowly de-aging, blinking out at them with shiny black eyes.

"I'm a genius." James muttered, peering intently at the transformation. "...The doors spin, but they always come back to the same place. And if you were positioning a place to study time, wouldn't you put it at twelve o'clock from the entrance? Anything else would become so irritating over time… Watch my back for a minute, will you."

.

Remus's wand was already in his hand but he turned full circle. The room was quite empty. He got no sense of any human life near them. He glanced back at James who had removed the time turner from under his cloak and was twisting it, hurriedly.

"What are you going?" Remus asked him. "You're going to look for Sirius?"

"God no. We'll find him in a minute." James said. "This will only take a minute. Less, in fact, than a second…" And he let the Time-turner spin, flicking the hood back over his face.

.

"…James?" Remus asked, feeling into the space James had vanished into, jabbing him in the stomach.

"All done!" James said, brightly. "Let's go find Sirius! Sniff him out with your wolf sense."

"I'm not an animagus." Remus said, frowning around the room. "…It doesn't work like that." But it did, quite a lot, and when Sirius was trapped somewhere down here, with a man who hated him, that was not the time to pretend it didn't.

.

Remus headed swiftly through the maze of ticking clocks. Yanking open a side-door he stumbling onto a pathway suspended over... nothing.

An immeasurable drop into total darkness.

Close above their heads, cogs the size of buses, twisted together, clanging and grinding.

"…I think it's an illusion." He heard James mutter, matching Remus's half run, as they followed the dangerous path, to its end; a trapdoor. Remus released it with his wand. James caught up, rather amused by Remus' tracking abilities.

They dropped into a tiny dark room with a curved glass wall. Their feet sunk at into the floor. A dry sand, which made them stumble as the turned around, looking for an exit.

The trapdoor had vanished and James cursed audibly, flicking the hood off his cloak again.

"I seriously hope you know what you're doing." He said, sinking up to his knees as he tried to wading to the far side of the tiny room; Remus knocked into him, sliding suddenly into the sinky sand, to his waist, to his probable death.

James leveled the Elder Wand on the thick glass and the wall exploded, sending everything, themselves included, tumbling onto a solid floor below.

.

"Lumos." They both said, scrambling back to their feet.

James had just smashed an enormous hourglass. It had stood on a large marble plinth and appeared to have been a display piece in what was otherwise a rather unmemorable office.

There were a number of desks, mostly piled with papers and pots of inky quills, and there were three metal doors, two of which were closed. The third was open only a crack, and Remus went to it at once, uttering a cry of alarm.

James pressed against him, seeing a small cell of a room, and nothing but a low bed.

And blood, red and sticky, pooled on the floor and smeared on the inner side of the door.


	53. Chapter 53

"What are we doing here?" Mundungus slurred, sliding off the front step of Grimmuld Place, with a bump.

Ignoring him Arabella rapped on the letter box.

"_Sirius_!" She called, loudly. "_Sirius! Sorry to bother you, Sirius! It's only me and Dung!_"

"'E's dead, Figgy, you dozy plonker." Mundungus snapped, trying to get back onto the top step again.

.

"_Mr Drummond_!" Arabella called, listening for the cat she had given to Sirius. "_Pus, pus, pus, pus! My Drummond, it's only me!"_

"You are one crazy lady, Figgy." Mundungus assured her, slightly impressed by the sheer level of craziness.

"_Sirius_!" Arabella called again, in exasperation. "Go round the back, Dung. Shimmy up the drainpipe and bang on his window."

"He's dead, you dozy…!" The words caught in Mundungus's throat when he realised they were trapped against the front of the house by half a dozen hooded wizards. Yelling his apologies to Arabella, Mundungus took the only option that sprung to mind, and disapparated, before a hand could reach hold of him.

.

.

The blood on the floor was quite fresh, just starting to coagulate, leaving a metallic tang in the air of the small room. James, backed in, keeping his wand out and his eyes focused on the office, as Remus lifted a blanket from a single makeshift bed wedged in the far corner. "Was he here?" He asked, quietly. "And what happened?"

"I don't know what happened." Remus said. He came back to the door. There was a red hand print, where the frame had been grabbed, around waist height, and Remus put his own hand over it. James, who actually rather hated the sight of blood (although mainly his own) squirmed. He knew Remus was comparing the print's size to his own, to decide if it was Sirius's, but it was still rather gross. Carefully avoiding the stain on the floor James kept watch on the silent office.

.

"...He let himself out." Remus concluded, rubbing his hand briskly on his robes. "But where did he go?"

"That's your job." James reminded him. "You must know where he went, Remus. The scent is going to be stronger from when he left the room than when he was taken there earlier."

"I am not a wolf, James!" Remus snapped, angrily. "Why don't you use your animagus form?"

"Because it's a _stag_?" James said, in astonishment. "How ironic that we can't find Sirius because we've lost our sniffer dog."

.

"So… He must have gone back the same way." Remus concluded, swinging round. James sighed loudly and jogged after him, transfiguring the jagged edges of the broken hour glass to a ladder and scrambling up onto the weird suspended pathway. The creaking cogs were silent now, hanging in the blackness above them.

.

Back they went to the room of clocks. The Doxy in the bell jar was older but de-aging yet again. James stopped, long enough to knock it over as they ran past. "…Seemed a bit cruel." He explained, grinning at Remus' expression.

.

"...Where is he?" Remus muttered, eyes scanning the many clock faces.

James looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before lifting a finger to his lips. Remus stopped. He could hear nothing... at all. They were on the bottom floor of a subterranean building. The silence was absolute.

James listened as well, before wandering over to one of the clocks and starting to examining it.

"_James_!" Remus snapped, fear eating away his patience. "There isn't time."

"…I have all the time in the world." James reminded him, frowned at the clock again.

.

Remus cast 'homo reviles', the spell designed to reveal any people in the casters vicinity. Unnervingly, the spell brought back a rush of images; multiple people arriving for work, many floors above them. It did not bring back any sign of Sirius. James finally drew his gaze away from the sea of clocks.

"...So he's a dog." He concluded. "Think like a dog, Moony... Where would you go if you were stuck down here? …Is there somewhere with a lot of bones in?" He added with a hint of a chuckle. Remus looked at him, in silence; thinking.

"Or; where would you come, if you wanted to find Sirius?" He stated, pushed past James and hurried back into the rotating room.

They peered down rows of stone benches to the drifting veil, suspended in its crumbling archway, in the very centre of the chilly room.

.

"_Sirius!_" Remus called. The echo bounced off the vast stone walls and was answered immediately by a sharp bark. Sirius's animagus lifted its heavy head off its paws, and leaped off the plinth, bounding up the stone benches and transforming in a flurry of black fur.

.

"You came to find me!" He exclaimed, yanking James into his arms. "Have you got Reggie out of the house, Prongs?"

"Of course." James assured him. "I got everyone out. Even the owl. Are you bleeding?"

"What? Oh, no. That wasn't my blood."

"Rabastan?" Remus asked him.

"No." Sirius said, although his head swung quickly over the room, before he pulled James into another quick embrace, before dragging him back to the door.

.

"...I thought I should wait for you to find me." Sirius, said glancing back at James with a broad grin. "Shall we check out your old Auroa Office, now we're here?"


	54. Chapter 54

"Good idea." James agreed, donning the invisibility cloak. Sirius returned at once into his animagus form, the black dog's nose down on the floor, sniffing out the exit door. They hurried up the passage, blessed with an empty lift, and as simply as that, they were back in the upper levels.

.

The Auror Office was on the fifth floor and the lift was quite busy by the time they finally reached it. Remus kept himself in front of the invisible James, and the dog sat beside him, resting against his leg. It was strangely like old times, even without Peter; even being thirty six. He supposed it felt that way because Sirius didn't remember the last fourteen years of his life, and James had never had the chance to live them. They were trapped in old times, and he was the minority.

The obliviating of Sirius's memory was sickening. He put a hand slightly protectively down on the dog's silky head, and got his fingers covers in wet lick. James's foot shot out from under the invisibility cloak, kicking Padfoot's legs. Padfoot yelped in surprise and promptly fell over, against a blond witch, who in turn dropped a lot of papers on him, and spent the rest of the journey tickling his ears and getting her face licked, while Remus spent the rest of the journey picking up a lot of dropped papers and recovering from the little escapade on the ninth floor. _Just like old times_.

.

"Remus!" Old times shattered as the lift opened onto the fifth floor, to reveal his wife, nursing a mug of strong coffee and slouching in the nearest doorway. "Love! This is a nice... surprise." She trailed off seeing the black dog, tailing thumping on the metallic floor of the lift. Remus slowly passed over the woman's papers, to give James time to exit, hunched no doubt, so the cloak would cover his feet.

.

"_Get in my office now!"_ Dora ordered, pulling the door closed behind them as James disrobed, looking with fascination at the board of photos and notes, the messy desk and the buzzing clattering equipment.

.

"Episky!" He cried, sweeping everyone's hair and clothes with the Elder Wands force. Every paper in the room shot into the air, swirling in a wild snow storm before drifting into neat piles and ordered files.

"You touch my office again and I'll Episky your mouth!" Dora shrieked at him, leveling her wand on James's face.

"I am holding the Elder Wand!" He crowed, with a sparkling grin. "What do you think you're going to be able to do? Besides, a thank you would be more appropriate."

"That was 'organised chaos'!" Dora told him. "Now how am I meant to find… this." She picked the top sheet off the centre of her desk.

"I arranged it according to the desires of your mind." James told her, smugly.

"If you had, _you_ wouldn't still be cluttering it up with your presence, would you?" Dora pointed out, glancing at the dog before passing James the parchment. "You alright, Sirius?" She asked.

"…The wag is a yes." James said, absently, reading quickly through the missive.

.

"This is my wedding photo." James said, looking at it for a moment. "Sirius! 'Man up', yes?" The dog did, immediately rising up into his human form and accepting the parchment; a missive from the Department of Mysteries, to all Ministry levels. They were looking for Sirius, _or his animagus form,_ within the Ministry building. There was also an alert to the Auror Office specifically to be ready to capture him once sighted.

.

"And you caught me, Tonks." Sirius said, passing it back to her. "Does that mean you get a bonus?"

"_Did_ you attack a wizard?" Dora asked him. "In your animagus form?"

"Not until it's proven I did." Sirius said, cautiously.

"Rabastan?" Remus asked him again.

"I wish." Sirius said, dragging his black hair angrily off his face and growling as if he was still a dog. "…No." He said. "Some silly wizard that was stupid enough to open the door but not clever enough to let me through it."

"You attacked a Ministry worker!" Dora groaned, despairingly. "What were you thinking?"

"That I don't appreciate being arrested by a Death Eater and threatened with death, my brother and friends deaths.. I thought it prudent to get out and wait for James."

"And it wouldn't have been clever to wait meekly in the room?"

"Clever is not Sirius's strongest suit." James pointed out.

"You were right to get out." Remus interrupted.

Dora accidentally, or because they were possibly horribly alike, mirrored both James's eye roll and his sigh.

"No. It was stupid." Dora told him. "Why not wait and attack Rabastan, if _he_ came into the room."

"Because Rabastan would be ready for Sirius to transform." Remus said.

"Will you seriously stop talking about him, Remus!" Sirius exploded. "The Ministry is corrupt! It always was! It is… Just... stop it, alright?"

"And plenty of people know that Sirius is an animagus now." James added. "Harry told me that all the Death Eaters all knew and publicized the fact. hey controlled the Ministry for a while, didn't they."

.

"I'll get you out of here." Dora said, putting the parchment back on her desk. "Sirius can hide under the cloak and we'll say my husband brought 'Harry' in so I could show him the Auror Department."

"I can take myself out." Sirius snapped, and let himself out of the room, slamming the door.

.

"I'm not rescuing him again." James said, still reading the parchment. "No matter what Rebastan wants to do to him."

"He'll get out." Remus said, darkly. "He always does."

"…Right." Dora said. "So, let's use our brains and assume that that's not a given. Husband, you take 'Harry' here back above ground. I'm going to catch Sirius and force him to wear this Invisability Cloak."


	55. Chapter 55

**AN: Bit of a boring one, sorry :( I am trying to build up the back story a bit.**

**Thank you so much for reviews and follows! :D**

"But what did Rabastan do to him?" Harry asked, again. James and Remus had been talking quietly at the table for some time, sipping Butterbeer and mulling over their adventure in the Department of Mysteries, and the Death Eater's involvement with the Unspeakables.

"Fought with him." James said, glancing over at his son thoughtfully. "Unarmed. And won. I can't believe he hasn't told you."

"But _as he hasn't_…" Remus added, meaningfully.

"It was _astonishing."_ James said, keenly. Remus studied him in what was definitely an irritated silence. But Harry decided he wanted to hear, and urged his father to go on.

"So," James said, "the war was raging everywhere. You, Harry, were a baby and I was hiding you and your mother, in our home in Goddrick's Hollow. Sirius and Remus, were living with Peter in a flat in central London, but Remus was away on Werewolf missions half the time. I was frustrated as hell; couldn't go out on missions with my colleagues, I was mostly planning raids for the Order."

"With Peter's help." Remus reminded him.

"_You_ trusted him." James said, crossly. "And you don't trust _anyone,_ Moony. _Everyone trusted Peter_. Who could not trust Peter? I still can't believe it."

.

Harry watched the two men regarding each other for a moment. Remus had actually, very obviously, not wanted the now scowling James to tell this story.

_This isn't how it's supposed to be_, he thought uneasily; _they are 'The Marauders'! They aren't meant to argue or disagree._

.

"_So."_ James said, again. "No one wanted to get Voldemort more than Sirius. One day, he goes off on one of his usual escapades…"

"James, I seriously think Sirius would have brought this up if he wanted to talk about it." Remus interrupted him again.

"Remus was totally _messed up_ during the war." James added, moving slightly to turn his chair more fully to face his son, as if Remus wasn't there. "So... Sirius was doing his thing…"

"What 'usual escapades'?" Harry asked. He did feel slightly sorry for Remus, but he only recently realised how little he did know about what Sirius and his parents had done in the war. "Sirius was an Auror, wasn't he?" He promoted James.

"God no! They wouldn't have had him." James exclaimed with a chuckle. "He did _try,_ because of me. But no one wanted him to... _No one._" He said pointedly, giving Remus a look.

"And I wasn't one of them." Remus defended, firmly. James's look didn't waver, his meaning clear. "No one trusted Sirius." Remus said to Harry. "His decision to fight against Voldemort seemed incomprehensible to a lot of people. Sirius could have been rich, powerful and very important. He left behind a life that half the people fighting for Dumbledore would have jumped at the chance to have, if they'd been born into pureblood wealth and entitlement.

"Sirius didn't fight for his survival, like most Muggle-born and Half-blood wizards. _He was one of the only pureblood wizards who wanted to fight... He believed we had something worth fighting for, but because he would have benefited from Voldemort's victory, no one trusted him_." He stated, his voice taking on a quiet coldness that Harry knew was not genuine calmness at all.

.

It suddenly occurred to Harry that Remus was not just talking about Sirius. He was also talking about himself. Wasn't Remus the _only Werewolf_ who had chosen to fight against Voldemort? Instead of accepting the better conditions that Voldemort offered.

.

"...Sirius chose a life that robbed him of his security, his safety and his family." Remus said, his voice low and rather husky. "He was truly brave. He sacrificed everything to fighting against what is wrong in our society. Don't _ever_ let anyone tell you that Sirius is stupid, or that his heart rules his head. He was ready to die to bring protection to Muggles, Werewolves, anyone who could not defend themselves."

.

James waited, to see if Remus had finished. He took a mouthful of Butterbeer and cleared his throat. "Sirius is ace." He agreed. "But really he just wanted to kill Voldemort, Harry. In person. He _really _wanted to. And nobody trusted him, in the slightest. It is hard to trust a school boy, fighting for his own unknown whims...

"So nobody trusted him." Remus interrupted again.

"_Or you."_ Harry said. The muscles in Remus's face tightened and he took another sip of his drink before he nodded.

"Yes… Very few people have ever trusted me." He said, softly.

"We _did_ trust you." James told him, bracingly. "You just weren't yourself, during the war, Remus. You were shifty. Even _Sirius_ didn't trust you; that is how untrustworthy you seemed."

"I trust you." Harry pointed out. "When we met Sirius in the Shrieking Shack, Remus; Sirius actually _said_ he'd killed my parents. Everyone had told me that he had. But you said it wasn't so. You asked me to trust you, against everything I'd ever heard, against what even Sirius' said."

"…And did you?" James asked. Remus looked at Harry for a moment, with an emotion etched on his lined face that Harry couldn't identify.

"Yes, I did." Harry said. "_We all did_. Me, and Hermione, and Ron."

"Yes, you did." Remus said. "Thank you, Harry."

.

"What a lovely tale." James said. "Anyway, everyone thought Sirius was, sooner or later, going to go back to Black, so to speak. Luckily, so did all his aunties, uncles and cousins. So, Sirius would take himself off on his own private missions, to find Voldemort and kill him."

"They were suicide missions." Remus interrupted again. "Because he was very unhappy."

"They _weren't_ suicide missions!" James scoffed, butting-in as well. "They were _brilliant._ Sirius had friends within his family and he'd convince people he wanted back in, worming his way closer to Voldemort's inner circle. He did loads of utterly brilliant things. Once, he tracked down a load of Muggle-born first years, taken off the Hogwarts Express in a Cleansing Purge..."  
"But mostly…" Remus interrupted sharply, before falling silent.

"...Mostly _he was brilliant_." James whispered to Harry, with a conspiratorial wink.

"Mostly he got messed up by it." Remus said, calmly. "And sooner or later he was going to die. But he wouldn't leave it alone."

"Like a dog with a bone." James agreed.

"_Rodolphus_ Lestrange was a Record Keeper for Voldemort; Rabastan's brother. He kept vanity files of atrocities, and records of who'd attended meetings and given money to the Death Eaters; records of who the Death Eaters were."

"And amongst the papers there was even directions to get to Voldemort! To his secret base!" James exclaimed. "And Sirius got them!"

"_He did?"_ Harry asked glancing at Remus as well.

"Yes, he did." Remus admitted. "He got the records."

"They arrested and successfully prosecuted more Death Eaters, on his evidence than at any other time, _ever_!" James said, with fierce pride. "He got them all locked in Azkaban, because he had got _actual written proof_ of their involvement."

"_And yet he didn't even get a trial."_ Remus said.

"Which is shocking." James agreed. "But, as I was _dead_ and Peter was the one who put him there, that sort of fell to you, didn't it, Remus? Why didn't you make sure he got a trail?" James pointed out.

.

"...So, Sirius was a hero?" Harry said, quickly. "And everyone realised he was on our side?"

"Yes." James said. "They did."

"For a while." Remus said. " And I couldn't have got him a trial, James. They would only have thought I'd helped him."

"You thought he was_ guilty!_" James pointed out. "You didn't even _try_ to get him a trial, Moony!"

.

"_What the hell are you talking about_!?" Sirius snarled, banging the door into the wall as he stepped back into the hovel.

"We're telling Harry what you did to Rabastan Lestrange!" James said, brightly. Harry did not know how his father could possibly think this was an appropriate statement. Sirius glared at them all.

"..._That's splendid."_ He growled, finally. "Remus, where the hell is my little brother?"


	56. Chapter 56

"Reggie popped out to get fire wood." James said, glancing at the dark forest behind Sirius's back. "Ages ago. But he's bound to come back soon. Where on Earth has he got to go?"

"I'll try and follow his scent; track him down, then." Sirius said, darkly. "You should go home, Remus."

"And I'll tell Harry about Rabastan." James concluded.

"_No._ _You won't."_ Sirius assured him. "You can come with me and help me find my brother." And he vanished back into the form of the massive black dog.

"You're hard work, Padfoot." James told him, but he pulled on his coat and flashed Harry another grin, before heading out into the dark forest.

.

Harry listened to them go; Padfoot snuffling the leaves, searching for Reggie's scent, and James grumbling audibly. Harry said good bye to Remus and watched him disapparate, before closing the door and going back to the table. Carefully, he scraped the last of the meal into a sandwich, tucked a bottle of Butterbeer under his arm, and ventured up the rickety ladder to the half -loft where Snape had been sleeping all day.

.

"Sir?" Harry stopped, second rung from the top, looking at the damp mattress and blankets. Snape couldn't clean them because he didn't have a wand, but he wasn't sleeping, he was sitting against the eves, watching Harry with his jet black eyes. He looked impressively sinister and Harry reminded himself that he had seen Snape's memories and that he was not a real Death Eater. He hadn't wanted to kill Dumbledore, or Harry.

.

"I bought you a sandwich, Professor." He said, holding it out. "And a drink." He couldn't really put the sandwich down because the bedding really did look filthy and he hadn't thought to bring a plate. "Please take it." He said.

"Thank you... Harry." Snape said finally. He sounded exactly the same as when they'd been at Hogwarts, except he had called Harry by his first name. Instead of 'Potter', with the accompanying sneer. Maybe Snape was grateful to Harry for bringing him back to life, Harry thought, he must know that wasn't James' idea. Awkwardly he half-climbed, half-crawled across the horrid mouldy blankets.

.

"...He didn't die." Snape said, abruptly, pausing in his neat efficient mouthfuls. "He had a Time-turner." Harry wasn't sure what he meant but he didn't like the look on his professor's pale face at all. In fact the grimace left him in little doubt which 'he' Snape was talking about.

"James didn't _have_ the Time-turner." He told Snape. "My father didn't leave me and my mum in Goddric's Hollow... to die."

"Oh, really?" Snape said, his lips as thin as Harry had ever seen them, the muscles in his face pinched tighter that Remus's had been when he had just talked about being distrust his entire life. "So, where is she then?" Snape asked. "Your mum?"

"She died." Harry said. "She died, saving my life and killing Voldemort. You know she did."

"Yes. _And he died_." Snape said, an utter rage starting to seep to the surface of every word. "…_He didn't protect her! …He didn't even die! He… he…!"_ Harry flinched as every word grew louder, harder. But then the emotion fell away to flattened horror, as Snape finished, as if he couldn't believe it. "_He… ran away?"_

.

"My father did _not_ run away!" Harry said, firmly. "He didn't leave my mother to die! He loved her totally and he died buying her time to make the spell to save me... And he couldn't go back for her."

"_He could go back for your stinking owl_!" Snape yelled, his hand snatching impulsively for the wand that wasn't there, and then snatching furiously at Harry, pushing him violently away.

.

There was a small wooden lip on the half-loft. It would have stopped a sleeper rolling off the mattress and over the edge, but it was not high enough to stop Harry staggering backwards, swinging into mid-air, and plummeting into the room below.

.

"...You appear to have broken your ankle." Snap's informed him, an emotionless statement that drifted about in Harry's mind before the room snapped back into focus and he found he was lying at Snape's feet at the foot of the ladder.

"_I_ didn't break my ankle." Harry hissed, trying not to clutch his leg as Snape waved _his_ wand, sending the bone back into place with a crack.

"You may be slightly concussed." Snape added. "You blacked out for a length of time."

"Well, thank you, sir." Harry hissed, unclenching his teeth as he realised the pain was ebbing. He rubbed cautiously at his sock, before leaning forward and snatching his wand right out of the teachers hand.

.

Snape, straightened up, looking down at Harry in such a superior way that Harry forced himself to stand, holding a chair and refusing to wince as he took his weight on his freshly repaired ankle.

"For your information." He said, calmly, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "_Sirius_ used the Time-turner to pull my father out of the house in Goddric's Hollow. And he _couldn't_ go back for my mother without altering the timeline."

"And yet Black harps on constantly about how he knew he was holding Lupin's baby when they _altered the timeline_." Snape stated. "How splendid that altering time is not a problem when you rescue Marauders. If only us mere mortals were as special."

"I'm sorry, _Sir_?" Harry said. Snape looked at him, aware maybe that Harry had purposefully emphasised the title, to emphasise his disbelief at hearing a grown man speaking in such a childish manner.

"I am not your teacher anymore, Potter." Snape said, tartly.

"Then I don't have to call you sir." Harry said. "And I _don't_ have to listen to you insulting my father or Sirius… I know." He added, abruptly. "I do know what they did to you at school... That it was horrible."

.

It was the wrong thing to say, Harry saw at once. The look of horror and mortification that swept over his ex-teacher's face was replaced with a mask of utter hatred. Without another word escaping his tightly closed lips, Snape snatched the ladder and clambered back up to the platform Harry had just been shoved off.

.

Harry returned to the table. He wished to God that Hermione and Ron were there to talk to. He thanked God that Hermione was at least _with_ Ron and _not_ with Regulus; pondered for a moment where Regulus and Kreacher actually were... pictured his dad strutting happily through the dark trees, protected by the Elder Wand and the massive Padfoot... Padfoot who was Sirius returned to Harry, alive and well...

And then he went to sleep, with his head resting on the tabletop.


	57. Chapter 57

Severus Snape lay on the damp mouldy mattress, staring at the slanted roof of Lupin's hovel. There was little roof there at all. He could see the underside of the slates, insulated with nothing but years of dusty cobwebs. Specs of the crumbling mortar fell down on him, disturbed by the owl, spiders and confused mice, used to having the place for their own.

.

This was where Albus had told Sirius to lie low, before Sirius had opened up Grimmauld Place. It was cool, even on a hot July night like this, with the damp of the unloved mattress seeping through his clothes. Severus was sure the novelty would have worn pretty thin for Sirius, as the cold of autumn had crept inside. He smiled at the chinks of starlight he could see, where tiles were lost, and imagined Sirius trying to decide if he wanted to freeze here all winter, or live like a prisoner in his hated Grimmauld Place.

.

Severus' treacherous mind reminded him that Sirius had a bank vault of gold at his disposal and could really have chosen to live wherever he wished, as long as it was in hiding… Like the worthless coward he was... But Sirius hadn't. Just as he hadn't washed or brushed his hair. He had wandered around, a prisoner of his own misery, kicking at the walls of Grimmaud Place because he couldn't lash out at the prison of his own tortured mind.

.

Severus had hated Sirius enough when he'd been a stupid arrogant school boy, always at Potters side, making sure Severus' hexes could never hit James' turned back; always first in with crushingly nasty put downs, always with the smart mouth when James couldn't think of something cruel enough; Sirius was nothing but a stupid sidekick, like the pathetic little bitch he turned out to be.

.

He'd thought he couldn't hate Sirius any more than he did, until he'd broken the Fidalas Charm and given Lily's location to the Dark Lord. He remembered lying on his bed, after it had happened; lying in Spinners End, surrounded by Lily's things, completely spent with tears, he'd wondered if maybe he could find some small pleasure in the fact that Black had betrayed Potter as well; that they were both ruined, death for Potter and Azkaban for Black. Surely there was some glee that he could take in that? But he had been able to find pleasure in nothing once Lily had gone. He had sold his life and freedom to Dumbledore in exchange for her protection, for nothing. He had nothing left, but anger and hatred, and guilt.

.

And then it turned out that Black hadn't betrayed Potter, at all. Sirius was just an idiot, with stupidity and poor judgement. Poor Black! Poor Potter! They hadn't betrayed their special Marauder vows to each other at all. But Lily was still dead, because of Black's stupidity. Dead and gone forever. As dead and gone forever as that arsehole, Potter...

.

"Harry." Severus whispered, glancing uneasily at the armchair where Sirius was now sleeping. It was the dead of night, and the only light came from the fire's embers. Harry was still asleep with his face flat on the table, drooling slightly. Apparently it had occurred to neither Sirius or James to disturb him, when they'd returned from a fruitless search for Regulus.

Snape shook his shoulder. "Harry." He hissed. Sirius, stirred in his sleep. Long legs tossed carelessly over the arm of a chair he must have transfigured to sleep in. Severus paused to watch him, making sure he wasn't actually awake. But he was out of the count, looking, Severus thought, like he was almost asking to be murdered in his sleep. _Please kill me while I lie here all vulnerable and stupid_, his body-language appeared to whisper, _I'm a git and I so deserve it_.

.

"...Harry." Severus tugged at his arm, again. "Wake up, Harry."

"Professor?" Harry groaned. "Sir?" Sirius fell clean off the chair with a thud. Severus froze, staring at him for a good couple of minutes, in which Sirius' slung an arm around one of the dislodged cushions, muttering, but slept on oblivious. Harry blinked and took off his glasses, rubbing at his Lily-green eyes.

.

"...Harry." Severus said. "Harry, I want to tell you something about your mother."

"What?" Harry whispered. He glanced at Sirius and around the small room, looking for his father and finding him asleep in a rather splendid looking, newly created, hammock, slung from the exposed beams.

"Come." Severus gestured, and without speaking or questioning, Harry slipped his glasses back on and followed Severus to the door. Together they tiptoed out into the dark woods.

.

"...I knew your mother when we were children." Severus said. He didn't like talking, at all really; but talking about this, to Harry... it was bizarre. He felt like he was someone else. Although this was part of his plan, he wasn't sure that he could actually do it, which was strange because he had done plenty of things in his life that most men weren't capable of.

.

He was, it occurred to him suddenly, being like Lupin. The Werewolf, did a clever job of pretending to be a real teacher, just as he'd put on a smart show of being a real student.

"Yes, Harry." He said. He did actually sound slightly like Lupin, when he used Harry's first name like this. He nodded, thoughtfully as he walked through the dark trees. "...I knew your mother. I loved her very much." _He already knows_, Severus thoughts whispered, in his head, disturbing his role-playing. _Harry saw my most personal and private memories of her. I gave them to him, because I thought I was dying but I was tricked_.

He considered if he was able to say 'as you already know' and decided he actually physically couldn't acknowledge or consider that.

He remembered that he had watched Lupin taking Harry off for a stroll at the edge of the Forbidden Forest when the Werewolf had been employed as a teacher. Hands thrust into his pockets, loping alongside the little Potter. Severus had been too far away to hear what they were saying, but Lupin had done that a lot. Taking the boy off for secret anti-Dementor lessons, private tuition, trying to give him an advantage over the other children. Severus had caught Lupin at it a couple of times. But now here _he_ was, strolling through the woods with Harry at his side. He put his hands in his pocket, just how Lupin did, as he strolled along pretending not to be the Werewolf.

.

Severus was pretending to be the Werewolf. He was talking to Harry, and Harry was walking with him. Away from the cottage. Away from Potter and Black. For once in his life Severus' plan was actually working perfectly.


	58. Chapter 58

"...I wanted to thank you." Harry said, slightly awkwardly. "For getting the sword of Gryffindor to me. And I'm sorry I believed you had betrayed us. Professor Dumbledore told me to trust you."

"That's very nice of you, Harry." Severus said. He wondered if Lupin felt this ridiculous, when he chatted to Harry, like some pleasant uncle.

.

_Please like me, Harry_, Severus imagined Lupin whining, '_you don't have to respect me as a teacher, just so long as you like me. Like me, Harry, I'm so pathetic, Harry_. The corners of Severus' lip curled into a faint smile, and he went with it, trying to make it into something friendly, before he decided he looked ridicules, and returned his features to their familiar expression.

"...Professor Dumbledore told me to give you the sword." Severus told him, trying to at least sound conversational. _He was trying to think where they should be heading. Not which direction through the wood, but after that. Could he take Harry to Spinner's End? Would that be safe?_ "...You were meant to believe I was loyal to the Dark Lord." He added. "...It was safer that way." He was thinking about the conversation he'd been eavesdropping on earlier in the evening; Harry telling Lupin how vastly more trustworthy the lying two-faced Werewolf was, than Severus himself, and the whole Wizarding World.

"Still… Thanks." Harry pointed out. "What… What did you want to tell me about my mother?"

.

Severus didn't want to tell Harry _anything_ about his mother. He didn't want to talk about Lily. This was starting to feel really hard, again. "I have some of her things." He said. He didn't know if he was actually going to let Harry see them, but he thought he might. He thought that he might actually like to see them acknowledged by another human being.

"I got some things out of the house, your house, at Goddric's Hollow." He explained. "And I had things anyway. Things your mother gave me over the years. A lot of things."

..._Because she loved me_.

_Why did he care if Harry knew Lily had loved him?_

_He'd had Lily's love for more years than James had._

_Or Harry had._

_Since they'd met, right up until Potter ruined everything._

"...I have some photos." Harry said, studying the shadowy trees and sounding uncertain. "Hagrid gave them to me. He wrote to people who knew my parents asking if they had any. You can make copies of them, if you'd like?"

Severus forgot how to pretend to be Professor Lupin. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know why Harry would say that. "...You might not want to." Harry said, after they'd taken a couple more steps. "But if you do, you can."

"Yes. Thank you, Harry." Severus said, finally. "I have some photos of your mothers eleventh birthday party."

.

This was true. He did have those photos. Her father had taken them and Lily had chosen some where she and Severus were together to give to him, in a little Muggle envelope with an edge printed like a patchwork quilt and a strange drawing of a kitten wearing a ribbon, printed on its reverse. The envelope had gone slightly yellow now and the photos, taken by a Muggle camera, did not move.

.

"I'd like to see them." Harry said. "A lot."

"Good." Severus said. _That was good. This was working out well._ "...I'd like to show you. We'll use side-long apparition."

"I didn't have a party." Harry said, suddenly. He looked into Severus' eyes, uneasily. "...When I was eleven." He added, in explanation. "Hagrid gave me a cake. I'd never had one before."

Severus nodded. He knew this was true. Harry was very bad at shielding his thoughts. He didn't know what to say. Why was Harry telling him that? Was he meant to say something about his own horrible Muggle childhood? _I didn't have an eleventh birthday party, either, Harry? _Was that what he was meant to say?

.

"Lily had a very nice party." He said. He didn't sound like Professor Lupin anymore. He sounded like himself, not knowing what to say, but he pressed on anyway. "There were paper hats. She…" _Held my hand… When she blew out the candles. She held my hand and we wished for Hogwarts, to be sure it was really going to happen._ "…She liked it. I'll show you the photos."

"Thank you, sir." Harry said. Severus nodded. He took Harry's arm and held it firmly as he disapparated to Spinner's End.

o0o

There was no sign that his house was being watched. Quickly he hurried across the quiet street and let them inside. Ignoring Harry's roaming eyes, he headed straight to his bedroom, yanking the box out and placing it on the floor at Harry's feet.

"The house is protected by wards." He said, quickly. "I'm going to leave you to look through the box in private. Stay here till I come back for you."

"Thank you." Harry said. "I'll do that. Thank you, Professor." Severus nodded. For a moment he watched Harry's hand timidly lifting out a handmade card, the glue starting to fail and flakes of glitter falling back into the box. Then he turned and hurried back out of the house, disapparating back to Lupin's Hovel and stepping inside.

o0o

He closed the door with a firm shove, loud enough to wake Sirius, still on the floor, still curled around the dislodged cushion. Severus watched him scramble to his feet, glaring at Severus' smirk.

"_James._" Sirius growled, eyes never leaving Severus' face.

"…It had better be something astonishing." James said, dropping out of the hammock. He smiled as he landed with a bounce on the wooden boards. "What's wrong, Snape?" He asked, pushing his glasses up his nose and ruffling his hair.

"Nothing." Severus said. His voice sounded silky again and utterly calm. "Nothing for me, anyway. I want you to give me the Time-turner and the Elder Wand."

"In your dreams, Snivels." Sirius said, his lip wrinkling in a sneer.

"Yeah, I do actually expect more respect than this." James added. "I saved your life, Snivels."

"Only to impress your son." Severus said. He watched James's face, loving every minute of this. He wished he was making a proper Wizarding photo of James right here, right now. James blinked again, stretching out his sleepy muscles and removing the Elder Wand from his pocket. Severus watched and he waited. But it was Sirius who suddenly jumped up, springing up the ladder to survey the mattress, before snatching open the door and shouting Harry's name into the dark trees.

.

"...Is he there?" James asked, wand now leveled on Severus' face.

"_No, he's not there_!" Sirius roared, slamming the door again and snatching Severus up by his collar.

"Where is he, Snape?" James asked, calmly, watching Sirius slamming Severus against the stone wall.

"He's with my 'friends'." Severus said, calmly. "I suggest you call off your mutt, Potter, and give me the wand and the Time-turner... Unless you value them more than your son's life; because my dogs are even nastier than yours, and your little boy is all on his own with them until I get back..."

He paused, relishing every moment, every expression on both their faces. "The Elder Wand, Potter." He said, silkily. "And the Timeturner. Let's not draw this out for Harry's sake. You know how 'playful' those Death Eaters can be."


	59. Chapter 59

James held the Elder Wand steady in his hand, thinking about it. Sirius had backed off and Severus smiled at him. "No rush, James." He said, calmly. "You take your time. Got a better idea, have you?"

.

James was _actually considering refusing,_ Severus was sure of it. With the Time-turner James could go back to the moment Severus had taken Harry and stop them leaving. "...Did you take Regulus as well?" James asked, calmly. Severus weighed up the odds of Regulus making a return appearance in the next few minutes and let his lips curl into a self-satisfied smile.

"What do you think, James?" He sneered. "And…" He turned back to Sirius, who looked as aghast, as James still looked infuriatingly calm. "…And you were never very nice to me, Black." He added, silkily. "Were you?"

_"You hurt my little brother or Harry and I will kill you."_ Sirius snarled. "_I'll make you cry for your own death, you snivelling piece of filth."_

"You're not very frightening, Black." Severus told him, calmly. "I have been dealing with nasty stuck up little boys like you for more than a decade; while you, tragically, have been rotting in Azkaban and hiding in your mother's house."

.

Sirius vanished. Inch long white teeth sunk into the air, gums touching Severus's raised arms, as the black dog was wrenched backwards by a spell from the Elder Wand. "Tell me where Harry is, Snape." James said, icily. "Or I let him go."

"You actually think Sirius is stupid enough to kill me?" Severus asked him. "When I am the only person who knows where your son and his brother are being tortured?"

.

The silence was good. Severus waited."...Turn back, Sirius." James snapped. Severus watched Sirius return to his human form, again. He refused to let a flicker of relief show, to have the monster dog gone. Severus also knew what Sirius had done to Rabastan Lestrange.

.

"...It's your choice, Potter." He said, turning back to James. "The wand and the Time-turner, or your son and Regulus."

"_I am going to kill you_." Sirius told him.

"But not until you've got your little brother away from my friends, I suggest." Severus told him, smugly.

"_I am going to kill you!_" Sirius screamed at him, scarlet with rage, spit flying from his mouth. "_And then YOU WILL SEE WHO I REALLY AM!_"

.

Severus regarded him in silence. James had again used the Elder Wand, this time to put a ward between them. "Showing your true colours, Black? …Or lack thereof." Severus asked, still icily calm. "I think it's safe to say that we three do all know perfectly well _who you really are_."

.

Sirius stared at him, maybe slightly stunned by what he had himself just said. Maybe even shocked himself calm; a little. He turned back to James with a nod. "Just do it." He said. "Give them to him."

James frowned, deeply pained. He was still trying to come up with a better idea. "…I could go back in time and stop this happening." He pointed out. "And afterwards I could let Sirius rip you to pieces." Severus didn't say anything. He thought James still might choose to use the Time-turner.

"Just give it to him." Sirius murmured again.

_Thank you, Black_, Severus thought silently. James ignored him.

"Why don't you let me help you?" He suggested instead. "I saved your life, Snape, and I know that you worked with Dumbledore to help Harry and for the greater good. If there's something you want to use the Time Turner for, I might agree to help you. Why must you be so underhand and objectionable?"

.

It felt, to Severus, like the times when he would play Albus and the Dark Lord off against each other. Only now he was playing Potter against himself. He couldn't accept the offer of help, although it was probably a lie anyway, but _why_ had James offered? Something about that felt off. Severus glance at Sirius, for a clue, but the Black heir had pulled himself together and only waited, impassive, silver eyes fixed on Severus's face, waiting for James to call it.

.

"Alright." Severus bluffed without a flicker of emotion on his face. "Go back in time and try to change this, if you think I'm foolish enough not to have made allowance for your attempt. You won't be able to get Reggie or Harry. You're leaving them to a slow and _very_ unpleasant death."

"_James_." Sirius, murmured.

"…Alright. _Yes."_ James said. He moved quickly to pull the Time-turner from around his neck. "For my son and Regulus."

"And the wand." Severus reminded him.

James put them both in the same hand. "Yes." He said. "But get my son first."

"I can't." Severus said. "Black will kill me, as soon as he knows they're both in the room, even if you don't. Nothing you say to him will convince me otherwise, as I'm sure you understand. I'll get them back to you. Regulus was my friend and Harry is Lily's son, as well as yours. They're both safe, the minute you give me the wand and Time-turner. I have nothing to gain from keeping them, and no reason to wish either boys harm."

.

He watched James considering this, checking each of these statements for truth. "Your word?" He said, abruptly. "On Lily's soul? You'll bring my son and Regulus back?" Severus looked up at him, giving his face time to show nothing. Although he had no intention of keeping the boys, he didn't even have Regulus, he still loved how naive and gulible James was.

"Yes." He said. "I swear it,_ on Lily's soul."_ He watched James adjust his hold on the Elder wand before stepping forward and putting both it and the Time-turner in Severus' waiting hand. He stepped back, into the protection of Sirius' drawn wand.

.

Severus could feel the energy in the Elder Wand, although he didn't doubt James was still it's Master. Taking the Time-turner in his other hand he cast '_Sectumsempra'_, slashing twice into Black's face, and disapparating out of the room.


	60. Chapter 60

His hand trembling violently, Severus let himself back into his house and warded the door, again and again, with the Elder Wand. Having any wand in his hand again was a blessing, and the Elder Wand worked perfectly well. He leant against the door for a moment, in the privacy of the hall, catching his breath.

.

"Sir?" His heart was still hammering. _Did he want to send Harry back at once? Or would he be able to lead Potter and Black here? _Harry appeared at the top of the stairs, cheeks scrubbed of tears he had badly failed to hide. His eyes, _those eyes_, looked massive, shimmering and emerald green. _I am going to get Lily_, Severus thought, a mantra, repeating over and over in his mind. _I am going to get Lily. I am going to stop her dying_.

"...Thank you for showing me, sir." Harry was saying, his voice also betraying tears he must have sobbed, going through the box, while Severus had been getting the Time-turner. "You kept so much."

.

Severus tucked the Elder Wand out of sight. He went into the kitchen and made himself a drink, regaining his calm. How many turns of the Time-turner would take him back to 31st October 1981? How had the Marauders made the Time-turner go back more than two days? How had they pulled each other out of their correct times? He needed Veritaserum, and he didn't have any. It would take a month to make, and then he would need to again get close enough to Harry or one of the Marauders to make them drink it. Could he wait a month? How long would it take Potter and Black to hunt him down?

"..._Thank you, sir._" Harry said again, having followed him into the kitchen. Severus studied him, trying to think if any other combination of the potions he did have would work, or could be combined, to make some sort of crude truth potion. Harry, seeing Serveus was overwrought, squeezed down the narrow kitchen and filled a glass with water for him, before taking one for himself, gulping it, thirstily.

.

_If this doesn't work, _Severus thought,_ I can obliviate Harry''s memory, _and so he just said it; "Harry, how did you father leave… How did he use the Time-turner to save himself?"

"Sirius did it." Harry told him, without hesitation. He refilled his glass from the tap. His hair was sticking up as if he'd had his face buried in his hands, in the privacy of the bedroom; absently he now tried to push it flat. "...Remus got the Time-turner and worked out how to make it work, so he could save Sirius from falling through the veil. Then Sirius went back and got my father."

"How?" Severus asked, calmly.

"There's a gold pin in the time turner. Remus clipped off the end so it could be removed, allowing you to go back as far as you want. When you push the pin back in, the journey is cancelled and you return to your starting time, taking whoever is also under the chain with you."

"Thank you, Harry." Severus said. He waited for Harry to turn his attention, rinsing the glass in the sink, and then he stunned him, catching Harry's arm and easing the surprisingly heavy boy onto the floor.

o0o

_ He was going to get Lily. Time was going to change, maybe very badly, and he didn't care._ He felt slightly giddy. _He was going to save Lily and he didn't care what happened._ He looked down at Harry, lying on the floor, like some parody of his father. Just for a moment he imagined Lily standing here, in his house. _What if Harry was still here? What would Lily feel, looking down and seeing him like that?_ With a quick swish of the Elder Wand Severus levitated Harry up the stairs and into the bedroom, laying him carefully on the bed.

Wasting no more time he tucked the wand back into his pocket and pulled out the gold pin, starting to twist... and twist and twist.

...The box looked exactly how it always did. There was a scattering of glitter on the floor, betraying that Harry had had everything out. But he had replaced it all as well, as carefully as he could ... Severus carried on twisting. Carried on counting the turns. Endlessly. Trying to contain his excitement, and ignore the voice in his head, that whispered of destruction, horror, and Voldemort.

_None of it mattered. He didn't care. His life had been hideous anyway, pretty much start to finish._

_Twist, twist; don't lose count_.

He remembered the way Sirius had twisted into his inhuman form, to come flying at Severus's face, all ripping white fangs. The fear, that had threatened to make his legs give way, as he'd lifted his arms and felt hot breath, inches from his skin, before James's spell had ripped Sirius backwards.

He thought about the double red lines, thin as wire, appearing on Sirius's face, falling opening to the bone, like wet ruby lips, as Severus had disapperated out of the room.

_ Twist. Twist. How far should he go back? How long did he need to prepare? How long risked him being caught by bloody Potter? He would have to apparate to the house and stay within the ruin, so he'd be inside the Fidalias Charm. Would it work? How could he know? Were there exactly three turns to twenty four hours? What if the time-turner deviated by a matter of seconds or minutes? That could add up over more than a decade._

He stopped twisting. He looked at Harry on the bed and wondered if he was about to cease to exist, in this form. Maybe they all would. Maybe he and Lily would arrive back to a world unrecognisable; destroyed by Voldemort.

_Don't get distracted,_ he reminded himself. _I am going to stop Lily dying. Nothing else matters._

Severus took the Elder Wand, holding it ready, as he disapparated to the house in Godrick's Hollow, released the twisted golden loops and watched them spin.


	61. Chapter 61

The Time-turner spun, faster and faster as it gained momentum. Finally it stopped, fully unwound.

Severus was still standing in the ruins of Lily's home. He had not gone back in time. It had not worked.

He stood very still for a long time, feeling sick.

Somehow James had deactivated the Time-turner. In the pit of his stomach, like nausea, devastation, humiliation and the usual feelings of despair and self-loathing churned. He had been fooled. He was an idiot.

He disapparated back to his house, holding the Elder Wand and the Time-turner. Harry was still unconscious on the bed. Severus left him, to hide himself away in the darkest corner of the small house.

o0o

"_Get off my face!"_ Sirius shoved James backwards, _again_. "_He's not bringing them! Where is Harry?! Where is Reggie?!"_

"Sirius! If I don't heal this, you will be scarred for life. I still have a scar from the nick on my cheek. Look at that George Weasley's ear. This is dark magic."

"_I don't care about my face! I care about Harry!"_ Sirius shouted at him. "_And my brother!_"

"Snape was telling the truth." James assured him. "I showed you his memories. He won't hurt Harry. And Reggie was his friend."

"_Then why hasn't he brought them back?_!" Sirius roared, shoving James off him, yet again, to pace frantically about the room.

"Most likely because he wants to imagine you, having this exact meltdown." James pointed out. He was holding Sirius's wand, to repair his face with, so he felt reasonably safe from Sirius's temper. "Can you please calm down and not give him the pleasure?"

"_He's got your son_!" Sirius shouted, about as un-calmed as it was possible to get. He pushed James away from the cuts on his face again, and yanked out the hearth stone, scooping a handful of damp Floo-powder from the recess and chucking it onto the glowing logs.

.

"_Remus! Remus!"_ He shouted, and continued shouting, until Remus's head appeared in the green flames.

"Shut up!" He warned, sharply. "You've woken Teddy and Dora will murder you..."  
"_Oh thank bloody Merlin!_" Sirius sobbed, falling down onto his hands and knees. Remus removed his head from the green flames, and stepped fully into the room, pulling Sirius back to his feet.

"What's happened, Pads?" He asked, eyes on Sirius's lacerated face.

"Bloody Snivels, has taken Harry and Reggie!" Sirius told him. "Said Death Eaters would torture them until James gave him the Elder Wand and the Time-Turner. I thought that Teddy… Because it was Harry and Reggie... Seemed likely that Teddy would be on the same list..."

"Teddy is safe." Remus assured him, watching James, over Sirius' should. James, who was clearly holding it together as well as he always did.

"He _is_ going to bring them back." James said. "I've given him the Time-turner and the Elder Wand. I'm sure that's all he wanted, and he'll bring them back. He just wants us to be frightened; _that frightened_." He added, pointedly to Sirius. "Pull it together, Sirius. Come on. Don't give him the satisfaction."

.

Remus didn't take his eyes off James. James frowned back at Remus, and Remus, who certainly did know James as well as a brother, having shared a dormitory with him for six years, pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Start talking, James." He suggested. James's gaze flicked for a second to Sirius, who he clearly didn't want to have this conversation in front of. Remus pulled out the chair beside him, waiting for Sirius to sit down. James pressed the pads of his fingers together for a moment.

.

"The key factor here…" He said softly. "The most important thing, really, is that the Time-turner that Snape has... doesn't work." He assessed both listeners for a moment, before continuing. "I don't actually know why this is, myself." He explained. "But I have theories. It's possible that the Unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries have been able to deactivate it, themselves. But it's also possible that we have broken it… I'm not sure the sand filled hour glass we smashed _was_ just for show. Did you notice that it was directly after we broke that, that the cogs above our heads froze and the clocks in the Time Chamber stopped ticking? On the other hand, the bell jar with the Doxy in it is also a candidate, because I probably shouldn't have broken that. The bell jar was originally joined to the store of Time-turners, before they were destroyed."

This was met with silence. "…So I have plenty of theories." James pointed out. "But I don't _know_ what the problem with the Time-turner is. It was working perfectly well when we broke into the Department of Mysteries, but since then... it isn't. I think they've just deactivated it."

"Couldn't it have just run out?" Remus suggested. "You used it night after night to visit past events, what if you've run it down to nothing?"

"I haven't." James said. "I happen to know that isn't the problem. I don't need help brainstorming the problem, Remus. I need time to arrive at the solution, without Sirius being Sirius. I am sure this won't be a problem for Harry or Regulus, and as you pointed out, your son is fine and safe."

"I think you're handling your son being in danger very calmly." Remus said. It was not a compliment and James, who knew Remus very well as well, chose to ignore it.

"Why don't you give me time to think?" He suggested. "Why don't you go and do canine things together?"

"You should bring Teddy here, Moony." Sirius said. "You're all _insane_ to trust Snape. He proved how little he cared about human life when he joined the Death Eaters."

"Teddy has _Alastor Moody_ and Remus's kick-arse wife watching over him, Sirius." James said, drumming his fingers on the table. "He' safer where he is. Although I seriously doubt Snape is just starting some baby-sitting service. Please, let me think. _I_ have to work out what to do about this."

"Definitely." Remus assured him. "Floo if Harry or Reggie arrive. Sirius, come on."

.

James watched them vanish into the green flames, before he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, trying to make his mind think.

It would be nice to explode in a sea of outrage, like Sirius, but it wouldn't help. And James _did_ realise that the only way he could help Harry, and sort this out, was by staying calm and thinking.

But he was thinking, and all he could think about was Harry needing him, and his lost home, with his lost wife, forever waiting, lost in the mist of time, for him to come home to her.

He wanted to put his head on the table and sob as well. And yell. Maybe he could allocate five minutes purely to screaming at this empty hovel and the empty woods about _his_ misery and fear. About _his_ missing son and _his_ dead wife and his _lost lovely life_.

Just _five minutes,_ to indulge how _his _heart was breaking; to clear his head and be able to focus on what needed to be done.

James put his glasses back on, considered how long five minutes would feel like to Harry, if Severus had actually sent him to be tortured, and pulled out a quill and parchment.

James, at least, knew he did not have five minutes to indulge in self-pity.


	62. Chapter 62

Regulus Black showed up mid-morning. James was pouring over the only book on Time-turners that Remus had been able to acquire for him. Remus was sitting in Sirius's armchair, scouring The Prophet for any articles about Sirius, Unspeakables or The Department of Mysteries.

"Sirius!" He barked, jumping up as Regulus slipped back through the door.

"Are you alright?" James also sprung to his feet. Sirius, who'd just gone to sleep in the loft, flung himself down the ladder, snatching Regulus into a bone-crushing embrace.

Regulus regarded them all uneasily. When Sirius released him he stepped carefully clear, hand slipping to a pocket now containing a wand.

.

"_Where have you been and what happened?"_ Sirius asked him. "_Are you alright?_"

"Yes. I'm alright, Siri." Regulus said, politely. "Thank you… I'm sorry I... worried you? I needed to clear my head. You know."

"Snape said you were being tortured." Remus said, clearly the first to grasp that this was not so.

"Oh… Right. Doubly sorry to have worried you then." Regulus assured Sirius, earnestly. "Just, needed to clear my head, a bit. Such a lot to happen, Siri."

"So, where have you been?" James asked, irritably. "And have you seen Harry, at all?"

"No." Regulus said. He looked back at Sirius, weighing him up, carefully. "I didn't know Snape would do that." He pointed out. "I thought about what you said, Siri. I just went to sort it out."

"Went where?" Sirius said, sounding reasonably calm.

"To see my old House Master." Remus explained, quietly. "He always looked after us. Thought he might be able to help."

"You're going back to Hogwarts?" Sirius said.

"Lord, no!" Regulus assured him. "No. Like you said, Siri; bit stupid, getting that friendly with someone like Hermione. The Slug's still Head of House. I tracked him down and explained everything. Claimed he'd heard stranger stories in his time, than mine. He's arranged for me to apprentice with one of his old boys in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. So, no, I'm not going back to Hogwarts. Officially, I am now your bastard off-spring, Siri. The Slug's sorted out papers, a wand. Everything. "  
"You've put me down as your father, on your fake papers? With whom?" Sirius asked.

"Marlene McKinnon." Regulus said. "Do you remember her?"  
"Should do, if I had a bastard son with her, shouldn't I?" Sirius said, before starting to laugh. He pulled Regulus back into his arms. "You utter _idiot_!" He said. "_You're going to be alright, Reggie. You're going to be alright._"

"There's more." Regulus promised. "The Slug has also arranged a betrothal."

"Lovely. You know Marlene McKinnon was a 'half-blood', don't you Reggie?" Sirius chuckled.

"Yes, well." Regulus shrugged. "There were no pureblood women killed in the First Wizarding War that were suitable. It was McKinnon or Dorcas Meadows." Sirius stopped laughing.

"McKinnon's fine. She'd have thought that was funny. So did me and Marlene name you Regulus, after my late brother?"  
"Weirdly you did." Reggie agreed, laughing as well. "Regulus Artucus McKinnon. RAM, Siri. Not up there with your initials, but good enough. Anyhow, I've been down to The Ministry and had a visit from Magical Law Inforcement, checking that I wasn't you in disguise. They tried to force me into my animagus form. That was funny. But they're satisfied I'm not you, although they did say they could see the family resembalance."

"But you're safe?" Sirius clarified. "You've got a new identity, a job and a respectable girlfriend."

"A betrothal, Siri. And The Slug said he had some stuff for you; things Alphard left you. Didn't know if you'd want them."

"Doubt it." Sirius shrugged. "So who is the unlucky Witch?"

"Flora Carrow." Regulus said. "She's sixteen. Seems nice enough."

"Mother would be so proud." Sirius said. "And I suppose she's illegitimate as well?"

"Well quite." Regulus said, smugly. "She is a Carrow." Sirius laughed but he was clearly very pleased that his brother was now in less danger of discovery than the rest of them.

"So, what about Harry?" Regulus asked, pulling out a chair at the table. "What do we know of his whereabouts?"

"He went in the night. Snape said he was being tortured." Sirius explained, quickly. "But we don't think he is. Snape was obsessed with James's wife. Creepily so. So we don't reckon he's going to hurt Harry. He said he'd let him go, if James gave him the Elder Wand and Time Turner, but he hasn't. He said he had you as well."

"Right." Reggie said. "Where have you looked? Have you tried Cokesworth?"

"What?" Sirius said.

"No." James said. "Cokesworth...? _You know where Snape lives?"_

"Yes, I do actually." Regulus said. "Shall we pay him a visit?"


	63. Chapter 63

Spinner's End was a dirty rundown neighbourhood. Many of the houses appeared empty and more than a handful betrayed themselves as the homes of some magic folk or other. Regulus led them across the road to one of many identical terraced properties, glanced back at his brother, and rapped sharply on the door. All three Marauders drew their wands and waited.

The door opened cautiously. It was Harry. "_Harry_!" Multiple hands reached out to yank him into the street and with a violent swish they disapparated back to Remus's hovel in the forest.

.

"Well that was pleasantly easy!" James said, cheerfully. "And I'm sure the Elder Wand will want to get back to its rightful master. So, what happened, Harry? Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine." Harry said. "Professor Snape told me to wait in the house, because you were coming to get me…" Sirius growled, cursing nastily under his breath. Harry considered him for a moment before looking back at his father. "Snape has the Elder Wand." He said.

"I had noticed." James assured him. "I'll get it back. It's my wand."

"And the Time-turner." Harry added. "He has your Time-turner."

"Still not worried." James assured him. "The Time-turner's not working, Harry. He can't do anything with it."

"Right." Harry said. "Why? What have you done to it?"

"_I_ didn't do anything to it." James said. "Either the Unspeakables have disabled it somehow, or I broke it smashing a big hourglass or a bell jar. I don't think it was the bell jar though…" He added, considering. "I think they've done something to it."

"The Unspeakables?" Harry clarified.

"We'll worry about fixing it, once we get it back." James told him. He sat back at the table and started on his plan to retrieve the Time-turner.

After briefly expressing his own gratitude that Harry was well, Remus went home to care for his family. Sirius went back to sleep, up on the half-loft that Harry had fallen from. And Harry sat at the table, with his father, watching James scanning pages of books and scratching illegible notes on a strip of parchment.

.

"...Maybe we should go and see Kingsley, Dad." He suggested. "He's in charge of the Ministry now."

"Who's Kingsley?" James asked, glancing up at Harry and pushing his glasses up his nose. "Pads! Do we know a Kingsley?"

"_Shacklebolt_." Sirius's slurred , head appearing over the side of the loft. "You know, Prongs. Big fellow... Friend of mine."

"_Your_ _Shacklebolt_ is in charge of the Ministry?" James asked incredulously.

"Apparently." Sirius said. "He was in charge of hunting me down when I escaped Azkaban, as well."

James snorted with laughter. "That was lucky!" He exclaimed.

Sirius studied him for a moment, with big silver eyes.

"..._Oh, Prongsy."_ He smirked. "Do you not think, he might have made sure he was appointed to it?"

James rolled his eyes at him, irritably. "Oh, whatever." He said. "Do we trust him?"

"Prongs, you trust _everybody."_ Sirius reminded him.

"Do _you_ trust him?" James asked, irritated with Sirius's attitude. "You're the one that's going to get locked up and killed if we can't."

.

Harry watched Sirius considering this, carefully. He was vaguely surprised that Sirius and Kingsley were friends, although they'd both been in the original Order of the Phoenix. "...Yeah. I'm sure I can trust Kingsley." Sirius decided.

"Really?" James asked, interested. "Why?"

"Because he's on our side, Dad." Harry said, slightly surprised. "He has been all along."

"I see." James said. "Unfortunately, Harry... When Remus took it upon himself to steal a Time-turner and alter the design of the universe itself, he may put all of us on the wrong side of the law, just slightly…" He looked up at Sirius again, bed-ruffled black hair, and a bloody lacerated cheek; still hanging over the edge of the loft. "...So, what do you think?" He asked. "Is Kingsley firmly on the side of 'moral correctness' or will your good friendship sway his judgement, to see things as a more 'grey' than 'black and white', Messr Padfoot?"

"I'd better go and find out." Sirius said. "Who knows how well we get on now, James? Not me, because you obliviated my memory."

"I was doing you a favour." James reminded him. Sirius shook his head, combing his hair with the fingers of his free hand and dropping down into the room to tug on his boots.

"…I think you do get on." Harry offered.

"I get on with everyone." Sirius said, flashing him a bright grin. "But if I'm not back in forty eight hours you can safely assume you need to come and break me out of the Department of Mysteries, again."

"Splendid!" James said, and with an utter lack of concern he picked up his book and started reading again, adding absently, "will do that, Pads."

Harry watched Sirius slipping on James's invisibility cloak. "Should I come?" He asked. "Could I talk to Kingsley for you, Sirius? It's you that they're looking for, and I know Kingsley quite well."

"Let Sirius go." James told him, dismissively. "He has his own brand of charming, Harry. I'm sure we won't have to break him out again. Twice would be embarrassing; wouldn't it, Pads?"

"Rabastan doesn't like me." Sirius said, frowning at his cut face, in Remus's cloudy mirror.

"I know. Surely that's a really good reason _not_ to go alone." Harry pointed out. "Why don't I go to see Kingsley? You can just follow me, beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Sirius."  
"Sounds sensible to me, Pads." James pointed out. "Do that." Sirius looked away from the mirror to flash James a glare, but James wasn't looking.

"You're not the boss of me, Prongs." He said, but he was laughing as he scooped up the Invisibility Cloak and escorted Harry into the Floo.


	64. Chapter 64

Out of a fireplace and back into the Ministry of Magic, they flew.

Harry hadn't been here since Voldemort had control of the Ministry when he, Ron and Hermione had disguised themselves with Polyjuice to search for Umbridge and the Horcrux. The memories swirled in his mind, as he watched Sirius fling the Invisibility Cloak over his head and vanish.

A moment later an invisible arm dropped over Harry's shoulder and Sirius hauled him over to the reception desk.

.

As a nervous wizard weighed in his wand, Harry tried to explain who he was to someone who clearly already knew. Clearly it was not going to be a problem for _him_ to see Kingsley.

.

Kingsley was in the Minister for Magic's office. The impressive golden sign on the door already bore his name, and Kingsley looked as if he'd made himself at home.

He also looked _very_ busy.

As Harry was shown inside, Kingsley was instructing two witches, rapidly dictating the end of a letter, and launching a memo into the air.

He closed the door, finally, and shook Harry's hand, clapping him on the back and congratulating him, while Harry tried to apologise for having been out of contact.

"I am Sorry I haven't been able to help you, Harry." Kingsley assured him, earnestly. "There's so much to do. The Ministry is still in disarray and a clean up is always a thankless and messy task."

Harry nodded, apologizing for barging in, as well, while Sirius loitered, invisible and poking him impatiently.

.

"So... It's about Sirius." Harry said, quickly.

"And Hermione Granger. Yes, I was told about this." Kingsley nodded, thoughtfully. "The report from The Unspeakables said you were at Grimmauld Place with them, Harry." Sirius poked him again, hard.

"Er, yes." Harry said.

Not being fluent in the language of pokes, he had no idea what Sirius was trying to convey. "Are you…" He grimaced as Sirius did it again, although 'ow' would be more appropriate.

If Sirius _wasn't_ arrested, Harry thought, he would speak to his Godfather about this poking business. "How do you... feel about it?" He asked, receiving a painful jab in the side. "You're not going to arrest Hermione, are you?" He added, as it suddenly occurred to him.

"Obviously that is a matter dealt with between The Unspeakables and the Auror..." Kingsley started to explain, stopping as Sirius took off the invisibility cloak to greet Kingsley with something more scowl than smile.

"Unspeakables, who are headed up by _Rabastan Lestrange?_" He growled. "What the hell is that about, Shacklebot?"

Kingsley did an actual double take of Sirius, in astonishment.

"_You're actually alive!_" He cried out. Sirius's scowl diminished some what, as Kingsley flung his chair aside and swept across the room to embrace him.

"...Don't arrest me?" Sirius suggested, with a smirk. "We've come for help. Have they really made you the Minister for Magic?"

"Not yet." Kingsley said. "But that is the plan. The Ministry's in chaos, Sirius... _Good God! I didn't believe it, at all! A school girl did this?"_

"That Hermione is a genius." Sirius said, catching Harry's eye as he smiled, broadly. "And she missed me, more than the rest of you, apparently."

"We all missed you." Kingsley assured him. "You look so... alive... so well!"

"So I'm told." Sirius agreed. "Why is Rabastan in your Ministry?"

"Rabastan Lestrange?" Kingsley asked, trying to attend to the question, while still marveling at Sirius' abrupt returned to life. "...Rabastan? Are you sure he is?"

"Very." Sirius said. "He was in the robes of an Unspeakable. A bunch of them showed up to arrest me."

"You had... _trouble_ with Rabastan." Kingsley said, looking over, and over, Sirius in astonishment.

"Yes, I did." Sirius agreed. "But why is he here, in your government?"

.

Before he answered, Kingsley waved his wand at a drinks cabinet, supplying them with two glasses of Firewhiskey and a cup of pumpkin juice.

He sat down behind his desk, gesturing for Sirius and Harry to join him.

"...There _are_ still Death Eaters in the Ministry." He said, staring at Sirius, still. "I have ten departments, each with dozens, if not hundreds of employees. It would be physically impossible, as well as undesirable, to fire every single wizard and witch who worked here when Voldemort took over. And finding new, qualified staff... _Physically impossible, Sirius."_

"But_ Rabastan Lestrange_!" Sirius exploded, on his feet again at once, palms flat on Kingsley's desk. Kingsley nodded, holding up an appeasing hand, until Sirius's quietened again.

Kingsley put the raised hand on Sirius's arm, shaking his head in astonishment again that he was _actually real._

"It _is_ unacceptable, Sirius." He agreed, in his deep, sincere, voice. He called through a long curly golden pipe, summoning the young witch who had shown them in, and instructing her to find Rabastan Lestrange.

.

And then they waited.

Harry sipped his pumpkin juice, trying not to feel like a child.

Sirius fidgeted, impatiently.

Kingsley, who was clearly a very busy man, waited patiently with them.

.

"…You actually look different, Sirius." He said, finally. Sirius, who was scowling at the desk, looked up at him.

"I used some spells." He said. "...Hermione did." Harry resisted the urge to glance at him. He hadn't expected Sirius to maintain the lie, about Hermione rescuing him, to _Kingsley._

_Surely, if Kingsley knew Sirius had been brought back with a Time-turner, there was no harm in him knowing about James and the others, or that Remus had been the one to do it. What was the point in lying to someone like _Kingsley?

.

"...I didn't know you were so close to her." Kingsley said, pondering this as well. "Hermione Granger is a gifted witch." Sirius nodded, looking at Kingsley in silence for a moment.

"...Well, yes. Yes, she is." He agreed, with a hint of humour. "Although I, also, didn't know we were quite _that close,_ either. She was, of course, fifteen when I fell through the veil. And I was not really myself, at the time."

"You weren't." Kingsley agreed. "I will do everything I can to keep Hermione out of Azkaban, Sirius."

"Great." Sirius said.

Harry tried to look as calm as Sirius did. He had thought Hermione had already avoided a prison sentence. Maybe Kingsley just didn't know that. He didn't know that there were Inner Circle Death Eaters in his Ministry.

"...If the Auror's retrieve this Time-turner..." Kingsley added, waving his wand to make the bottle pour them more Firewhiskey. "I will have to order it destroyed. It is my understand that this will cause you to get thrown back to that moment, to The Veil, in the Death Chamber..."

Sirius nodded. Kingsley swilled the Firewhiskey in his glace, looking at the amber liquid.

"So... We don't let them retrieve it, Sirius." He said, softly. Sirius nodded, if anything Harry thought he looked utterly disinterested in what was clearly a sincere and generous statement.

Sirius blatantly didn't care. He waited irritably for the witch to return with Rabastan or news of him.

Harry thought that Sirius, while not about to be arrested, could definitely be making more of an effort, here.

James had said that Sirius had 'his own brand of charming' but Harry didn't think Sirius was charming at all. Rather people liked him, despite the utter lack of effort he put into charming them.

.

The witch returned, explaining to Kingsley that the Department of Mysteries definitely did not employ Rabastan Lestrange. Kingsley thanked her politely, as Sirius, predictably on his feet, bristled angrily behind him.

Harry imagined his father, or even Remus, would be reminding Sirius to sit down and calm down, but James had sent Sirius out with just Harry.

.

Kingsley escorted the woman out before turning to Sirius, thoughtfully. He glanced over his, clearly very full, diary, muttering quietly to itself on his desk. His eyes checked the clock on his wall.

"...If we are going into the Department of Mysteries, Sirius, you will need to use your invisibility cloak." He concluded.

o0o

Harry, got up at once. He had defeated Voldemort, repeatedly, and a basilisk, amongst other things. He was not going to be left behind with a cup of pumpkin juice and some paper and crayons.

Sirius, again invisible, did not put his arm back around Harry's shoulders. Maybe he was staying by Kingsley's side, although Harry thought that was unlikely. He hurried to keep up, as the about-to-be-Minister for Magic, swept through the atrium, looking like a king.

o0o

They were in the lift, metal grate pulled closed, when Sirius abruptly flung off the cloak and started hitting buttons. First clearly trying to stop the lift at another level, and then, as they continued to plummet towards the bottom floor, a shiny round red button, that caused them to freeze, their bodies crushing down into their shoes.

.

The lift had stopped. They had actually reached the bottom floor. They could see down to the corridor, through the lower half of the floor grate.

Kingsley turned to look at Sirius, silently. He didn't speak.

Now, suddenly, Harry wondered about Sirius's 'special brand of charming'. For some reason he hadn't considered that this might be the type of 'charm' which flew from the end of a wand.

.

"...I cannot imagine what you hope to achieve by doing this." Kingsley said, finally, his voice as low and calm as ever. Sirius didn't say anything, frowning. He actually looked like he was listening intently. But not to Kingsley. Harry sucked in his breathing and listened as well.

He could hear... absolute silence, and then one of Kingsley's breaths.

A moment later the black door at the corridor's far end opened, and Sirius flung the invisibility back over his head.

.

Harry wrapped his hand around his pocketed wand, but was actually too startled to raise it.

The far door crashed open, and a monstrous thing lunged snarling down the corridor.

Like some terrifying Centaur, it's body was raised up on four legs, but there were no hooves, only clawed feet, the size of plates, that hooked into the lift gate, as the thing leaped at them. It's face, almost human, was a hideous mis-shapen mask of rage.

.

They all leaped backwards, Kingsley drawing his wand beside Harry, as the beast unhooked it's massive curling claws and sprung again at the lift's narrow gate.

With a ringing crash, the metal bent in on them.

"Stuporfy!" Harry shouted, sending a blaze of energy into the beasts exposed stomach. Nothing happened. The hooked claws, vastly too big to get through the grating, curled and ripped angrily, as Kingsley also shot off spell after spell, searching for something that would knock it away.

Harry felt an invisible arm yank him backwards, as a bony black tail suddenly flew through the gate, imbedding a glistening sting in the wall above his head.

.

The hideous face, filled with human comprehension, fixed it's massive claws into the grating and attacked again, and again, sending it poison tipped tail through at them, as they shot every spell they could think of, into it's horrible face and furred body.

**AN:Can you tell what it is yet?**


	65. Chapter 65

Harry didn't see the other wizards until they dragged the creature back with multiple glowing chains. It's monstrous size wedged in it the doorway, before, roaring angrily, it was yanked out of sight.

.

Flattened against the sting filled wall of the lift, Harry and Kingsley caught their breath, as a delegation of robed Unspeakables returned, bringing the lift fully to the floor and opening the grate.

"So sorry, Minister." A grey haired wizard assured, offering Kingsley his hand. "I hope you are not too alarmed."

"_I want to see a permit for that beast, on my desk, by the time I get back to my office!"_ Kingsley boomed, and Harry was relieved to see he was not the only one who had been badly shaken up.

"Yes, of course, Minister." The wizard inclined his head, face hidden under his hood for a moment. "...This way, please." He added, pleasantly. "A drink maybe? You have business with us?"

"Get Rabastan Lestranger." Kingsley ordered, following the delegation of Unspeakables into the circular room, and waiting while the doors and torches on the walls span once, before permitting them to exit into the Chamber of Timestudy.

.

Nearly three years before, Harry had fought here, for his life. It was the day Sirius had fallen through the veil, etched forever on his memory. Rabastan Lestrange had been there that day as well.

.

The Bell Jar, in which he had seen the Humming bird forever hatching and unhatching, was now gone. The clocks were silent and stopped. They were escorted by the robed wizards onward, through to a reasonably normal looking office where a mighty, but clearly smashed, hourglass was stood on a marble plinth.

Sirius poked him. Harry jumped, trying not to glance round. "...Why is it broken?" He asked. Sirius poked him _harder._ The Unspeakables stopped and all looked round.

"Perhaps _you_ could enlighten _us,_ as to why it's broken?" The grey haired wizard suggested, pointedly. Sirius waited until they were moving again before tugging at Harry's sleeve, which really made him feel like he had some impatient child with him.

"_What_?" He hissed as quietly as he could.

"_Where is the mountain ore?"_ Sirius whispered. Harry had no idea what this meant and the nearest Unspeakables looked round at them, as if they'd heard.

"Please, have a seat, Minister." The grey-haired wizard gestured them to sit around one of the desks. The cluster of following Unspeakables fell back, but they didn't leave the room. They stayed, hidden beneath their hoods, blocking the doorway. "...And Harry Potter." The grey-haired wizard added. "Do sit. This is a privilege."

"I want to speak to Rabastan Lestrange." Kingsley said, settling himself comfortably.

"And I wondered where the mountain ore is?" Harry said, when Sirius jabbed him again.

"Yes." Kingsley covered quickly. "Where is the _Manticore_ now? And what do you have such a dangerous beast here for?"

"The Department of Mysteries has many lines of study, Minister." The grey haired wizard said, smoothly. "The creature is contained safely."

"That did not look safe to me." Kingsley assured him.

"Indeed." He bowed his head. "Our humblest apologies, Minister."  
"Your humblest apologies for a known wizard killing beast, attacking the Minister of Magic and Harry Potter?"

"It wouldn't have harmed you." The grey-haired wizard said, confidently. "They have near-human intelligence, Manticores. It was, how shall we say, a misunderstanding?" He ignored Kingsley's wide-eyed disgust with a thin smile. He looked instead at Harry. "...The Manticore is with us to help track down our most powerful and dangerous treasure, the stolen Time-turner. It is, as we are well aware, in the possession of the resurrected Black Heir. Perhaps you..." He paused, studying Harry intently, "...have some lingering scent of him about your clothes? You were with him in his former home, when we apprehended him, I was informed."

.

"The matter is to be dealt with by the Auror Department." Kingsley told him. "And the Manticore will be dispatched or returned to whence it came."

"The Auror's will not manage to catch Sirius Black." The grey-haired wizard said, slightly sharply. He forced another thin-lipped smile at them. "...Minister." He said, calmly. "We all recall how little head way you, yourself, made in catching him, when he escaped from the 'inescapable' prison. Even weak, deranged and without refuge, he eluded you with consummate ease. I am affraid we cannot entrust this to the Aurors, Minister. The Time-turner is too precious. It is a terrible and powerful weapon, in his hands."

"No." Kingsley said, calmly. "I do believe it is not. This is simply the whim of a highly intelligent school girl with a crush on a dead man."

"We have Hermione Granger under constant surveillance, Minister." The grey haired wizard assured him. "He has not returned to see her and he won't. She has served her purpose."

"He may." Kingsley said. Harry said nothing, listening carefully to everything that was said. Again he was alarmed by how much trouble this seemed to have caused, the entirely innocent, Hermione.

"...Sirius Black will not go back there." The grey haired wizard was saying, again. "He will have moved on. He will have targeted an Unspeakable already, because the Time-turner is deactivated. He will have discovered that he is currently unable to use it and he _will_ use an Unspeakable to get back into my department, to fix that. The Manticore has his scent and it will kill him. A beast to catch a beast, Minister. The animagus wizard will be no match for a Manticore."

"...I hope you have paper work to prove you are allowed to have that creature within the Ministry." Kingsley said, coldly. "Black is _one_ wizard, and if he has any sense, he will be in hiding."

"Well, that appears to be the one thing he is not so good at." The grey-haired wizard pointed out, with a hint of amusement. "Sirius Black won't hide, Minister. He will come to play with my Manicore; like a moth to a flame. Do you honestly think it is a_ coincidence _that Miss Granger has rescued him_ as the Dark Lord dies_?"

"Yes, I honestly do." Kingsley said, at once. "It was a school girl crush, I tell you."  
"I don't doubt it was." The grey-haired wizard agreed. "But I hope you won't insult my intelligence by suggesting that the Black Heir returns these feelings. The Dark Lord dies and immediately the Black Heir returns from behind The Veil?"

"I disagree entirely." Kinsgley assured him. "And there is little I don't know about Sirius Black. Perhaps you could find out what is keeping Rabastan Lestrange, for me."

"But of course, Minister." He inclined his head, face hidden under his robe for a moment, before pacing away.

.

"_It smelt you in the lift."_ Harry hissed, anxiously.

"Sandalwood and cut grass." Sirius whispered back. "And a hint of wet dog. 'Mountain Ore'! You utter _moron_, Harry!" Harry looked round for him, although Sirius was still quite invisible. He was clearly much less alarmed than Harry was though, and that made him feel better at once.

"_You have to get out of here, Sirius_." Harry whispered, watching the cloaked figures returning.

"Man up, Harry." Sirius hissed back. "We have to find out how to fix the Time-turner. Maybe you could ask some more relevant questions about it, and the 'mountain ore'! Why don't you cause a distraction for me, so I can scout around?"

"But don't _do_ anything, Sirius!" Harry hissed, trying to make it look as if he was talking to Kingsley as the grey-haired wizard returned to the table.

But Sirius was no longer listening.

Accompanied the grey-haired wizard, dressed in the robes of an Unspeakable, was Rabastan Lestrange; murderer, torturer, Death Eater.


	66. Chapter 66

Rabastan Lestrange was quite thin. He had dark eyes, which reflected the dullness of a decade at the mercy of Azkaban's Dementors. But Harry felt no pity for him. He didn't know what Sirius had done to Rabastan Lestrange, but he knew that this man was one of the four Death Eaters that had tortured Neville's parents into insanity. And he had been with the Death Eaters here, the day Sirius had been thrown into The Veil. Harry remembered that Hermione had stunned him. Rabastan Lestrange_ was a Death Eater. Why was he allowed to be here_?

.

"Minister." Rabastan Lestrange inclined his head. "Harry Potter." He added, quietly, watching with his dark eyes. He had a long thin moustache; brown and waxy like his lank hair. Everything about him made Harry's skin prickle with unease. He wanted to take out his wand and hex him. He actually wanted to get away, put a safe distance between them. But the war was over. They were in a time of peace.

.

The grey haired wizard gestured for Rabastan to also take a seat, beside him, before he turned his attention firmly to Kingsley. "Rabastan Lestrange is an Unspeakable." He stated, firmly. "He was a _seventeen year old boy_ when Crouch sent him to Azkaban. What does the side of 'the great and the good' hope to achieve by the mental torture of a misguided pure-blood youth? Torture is torture, Minister. I understood your Ministry would have no place for such brutal punishments."

"I haven't come here to discuss prison reforms with you." Kingsley assured him. "You are harbouring a convicted criminal."

"Two?" Harry said.

They all looked round at him.

"_Two_." Harry said again, with more certainty.

He had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Only that Sirius had again poked him, and distinctly pressed _two_ fingers against his forearm.

"...Oh, yes, _indeed."_ The grey haired wizard inclined his head. "Crouch sent _two_ seventeen year old boys to Azkaban."

"_Barty Crouch Junior!_" Harry cried suddenly, remembering the trial in Dumbledore's pensive. Barty Crouch Junior. The hateful mad man that had pretended to be Moody. He had been a slender young boy then, with a lot of sandy hair and big brown eyes. Harry hadn't realised that Rabastan was just as young.

.

Since he'd yelled out, Rabastan had been staring at Harry, in obvious confusion. Harry did not care. This was clearly what Sirius wanted him to do, and it was kind of fun. "._..Barty Crouch Junior was crazier than a box of chocolate frogs!"_ Harry exclaimed, keenly. _"Battier than Bellatrix!"_

_"_That is my _dead sister-in-law_ you are _mocking."_ Rabastan said, reasonably calmly.

"Yes. _And_ Barty." Harry agreed. "You can't really blame me. They did both try to kill me."

"...Harry?" Kingsley interrupted him, uneasily.

Harry ignored him. He felt liberated. It was funny. He felt like a Marauder.

The grey haired wizard cleared his throat, trying to focus fully on Kingsley again. "...Rabastan has given the court evidence." He stated, trying to ignore Harry, who was grinning slightly manically now. "...He has served thirteen years in Azkaban, and was forced into the service of Lord Voldemort…"

"Barty was your friend, right?" Harry interrupted. Harry was starting to learn the language of pokes. The two fingers clearly meant he should talk about Barty again. Sirius's arm invisibly hugging his shoulder surely meant 'friend'.

"I have no desire to talk about Barty Crouch." Rabastan stated. Sirius patted two fingers more certainly against Harry's arm, and kissed the top of his head.

"_He was your boyfriend_!" Harry shouted, triumphantly.

Rabastan knocked over his chair, his thin face contorted with shock and anger.

"_How dare you_!" He shouted at Harry.

"_No_!" Harry yelled with a bark of laughter. "No, no! _He was 'kissed by a Dementor'_! _Barty got the Dementor's kiss!"_

_"You insolent brat!"_ Rabastan snarled, knocking the grey haired wizard asided and drawing his wand, as Harry shouted. "_Expelliamus_!"

.

They were _both_ disarmed by Kingsley, and the grey-haired wizard. The knocked back seats were retrieved and eventually they were all sitting back at the desk.

"…Really sorry about the boyfriend, comment." Harry said.

"Barty was my _friend_." Rabastan hissed at him, dark eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, that was totally my mistake." Harry admitted, trying not to grin from ear to ear. "Didn't mean to bring up the 'boyfriend' thing. But you know, it was always just 'your brother and Bella' and 'you and Barty'; the four of you, always doing stuff together, like torturing people… Just 'the four of you'. You know. It looks a bit... Cosy?"

"_Harry?_" Kingsley said again.

"_What in Godrick's name is wrong with you, boy!?_" Rabastan roared at him, groping for a wand he no longer had.

"I'm just saying!" Harry laughed. "Barty Crouch Junior was sort of girly and pretty, you're tall and ugly, but in a manly way. I'm sure people generally just assumed he was your boyfrien..."

Harry jumped clear of the desk as Rabastan lunged across it, crimson robes flying as he snatched violently for Harry, who was already a good two yards clear of him, unable to hold back the laughter that bubbled up uncontrolably, as he watched the Death Eater, red faced and powerless.

_This is what it feels like to be Sirius_, Harry thought, excitedly.

"_You insolent little brat!"_ Rabastan screamed at him, again, shoving the grey haired wizard away and snatching for Harry, as he jumped backwards.

He felt like a Marauder.

He felt incredibly irresponsible and it was brilliant.

"...This is no laughing matter." Kingsley said, firmly. "Please sit down."

"Yes." Harry did. "...And I'm sorry about your boyfriend." He added, sincerely.

"Barty _wasn't_ my boyfriend." Rabastan hissed at him, black eyes narrowed to slits, lips peeling away from his teeth, he was _so_ angry.

"Just 'very good friends'." Harry said. Rabastan stared at him, in disbelief, while Kingsley and the Grey haired wizard tried to coax them, yet again, back into the seats.

"…Yes." Rabastan said quietly, glare still in place. "We were friends."

"'Special' friends?" Harry asked him.

"_Harry_." Kingsley said, firmly. "We are discussing Rabastan's part in very serious crimes."

"I was just apologising for suggesting Barty Crouch was Rabastan's boyfriend." Harry said, wildly. "They were just 'good' friends but everyone thought..."

"_If you weren't Harry Potter…"_ Rabastan hissed, darkly.

"I wouldn't have this scar?" Harry suggested, moving his fringe aside and dropping it back as a stream of Unspeakables rushed into the room.

Assuming they'd come to stop him, Harry sprung out of the chair again, realising as he did so that they were shouting about the Manticore, the horrific beast that had attacked them in the lift.

.

Kingsley chucked Harry his wand, and they ran with the other men through the Department of Mysteries, until a strong arm swung around his stomach, pulling him back.

A strong _invisible_ arm.

"_Sirius!"_ Harry exclaimed, watching the other men rushing away from them. "Sirius, the Manticore has escaped!"

"No. I have let it out!" Sirius shouted back, excitedly, flinging the hood of the invisibility cloak off his flushed face.

"You've _what_!?" Harry yelled at him.

"_I've let it out!"_ Sirius said. "_And I've killed it! I killed it! I knew I could, Harry! I knew it!_"

"But none of the spells hurt it!" Harry said, trying to be quieter, as the din of shouting men faded. "How?"

"Because I am _awesome!"_ Sirius said, eyes sparkling, barely able to keep still. "And _you are awesome!_ All the Unspeakables were at that door, listening to you. You were hysterical. A perfect distraction! You were _brilliant,_ Harry!"

.

"...But how did you kill it, Sirius?" Harry asked, jogging with Sirius back up the corridor, to the room of ticking clocks and the circular entrance that span; then through the corridor and up in the lift. "...And you should hide." Harry told him, as the lift sailed upwards.

Sirius was still laughing. His black hair sweaty; soot on his cheeks. "...Did you set fire to it?" Harry added, laughing himself, as Sirius ineffectually tried to clean himself up.

"No." Sirius said. "What I did... Moony loves all those dangerous beasts. And he said Manticore's are part scorpion, so he thought they might attack themselves in a ring of fire."

"_Might?"_

Sirius laughed.

"Yes. Might!" He agreed. "I was impressed that I remembered that, seeing as I don't remember anything else…" He said, trailing off as the lift reached the atrium. With a last grin at Harry he threw the hood back over his hot face and took Harry's arm. Together they hurried through the bustle of wizards and witches and flooed up into the public toilets that allowed secret entrance and exit into the Ministry of Magic.

o0o

"Why does Rabastan hate you?" Harry asked, as they hurried clear enough of the Ministry to disapparate. Sirius glanced back at him, for a moment.

"...Because he thought he could trust me, I suppose." He said. "And I attacked him."

"And you stole information?" Sirius nodded, still hurrying down the street.

"It doesn't matter now." He said, quickly, but then he paused, thinking about the past, that maybe didn't seem so long ago with his damaged memory. "…_I really wanted to get Voldemort_." He said. A moment later he looked back at Harry and forced a smile. "And you did it." He added, with something that was almost astonishment in his voice. "_You killed Voldemort_." Harry smiled back at him.

"Yeah." He said. "...Well. Really, his own back firing spell killed him. _You killed a Manticore."_ Sirius laughed again.

"In a ring of fire." He said, considering this as well. "Moony was right. He knows so much about beasts and monsters, he should be a teacher." Harry nodded.

"He... was." He said. "For a year. The best one we ever had."

"Oh yes." Sirius nodded. "Of course he was. Well, come on, Harry! I want to tell James what we've done!"


	67. Chapter 67

Teddy in his arms, Remus was waiting anxiously in the hovel, with James. "You haven't really gone back into the Department of Mysteries, have you?" He demanded, as they bounced in.

"Why yes, I really have!" Sirius laughed. "Oh, wow! Teddy can sit up!" Remus stared at him for a moment and then he laughed.

"Yes. When I'm holding him, he can. Or with cushions." He added, nudging a pile of the together with his boot before wedging the baby into them. "Are you alright, Pads? You look… sooty?"

"I have been playing with fire." Sirius laughed, still distracted by Teddy's ability to sit.

"._..There was a Manticore! And Sirius killed it!"_ Harry exclaimed, breathlessly, tugging Sirius's attention away from the baby on the floor.

"You did _what!_?" Remus said, sharply.

"Oh, _excellent!"_ James cried. "How, Padfoot? Those blighters are notoriously unkillable."

"Moony told me once that they were a magical amalgam of man, lion and scorpion, but that their behaviour suggests the mental process of a scorpion, with the intelligence of a man, which some how I just remembered, when I saw it, and so… A ring of fire. Fiendfyre, in fact. It couldn't get free and so it attacked itself with its sting, just like a scorpion. Just like you thought it would, Moony. That is how to kill a Manticore. You were right, you see, Moony. A ring of fire. And now this one is dead, they can use its sting in some way to kill others, I assume, because the stink killed it straight away. You can write a book, Moony. And you can use it in your Care of Magical Creatures classes."

.

The hovel was actually very quiet. The vast woods stretching away on either side; logs crackling quietly in the fireplace. Sirius, now satisfied with his explanation, had gone over to kneel beside Teddy. The baby, propped up by many cushions, chewed a string of amber beads and smiled at Sirius. Teddy knew Sirius, he smiled and reached out for him, happily.

Teddy, Harry thought, was lucky; because Harry was not sure that he knew Sirius, at all, anymore. And he wanted to, badly.

When Sirius had fought his way out of Azkaban, to reach Harry at thirteen, it was the first time, in his entire miserable childhood, that he known what it was like to be protected by an adult who really loved him. A depressed, damaged, unhappy adult, that had barely seemed capable of anything _except_ loving Harry, with all of his might.

.

Harry wasn't stupid. He knew Molly had been _appalled_ at Sirius's clumsy attempts at both parenting and friendship, but Harry hadn't been. He had loved Sirius for both. Losing him through The Veil had been like losing part of his own soul, and he was slightly surprised that it had been Remus, and not himself, that had torn a hole in time to get Sirius back.

.

A happy, enthusiastic, lovable Sirius, that is what they had got back.

When they had been running back through The Ministry together, Harry had felt almost dizzily happy. He had felt like a Marauder; he had known what it had been like to be his dad. He had felt so madly happy, that he had forgotten completely that the reason Sirius _was_ like this, was because James had burnt great chunks out of Sirius's mind, half of his memory casually destroyed, so that they could have _this_ happy young Sirius to spend time with.

As Harry watched Sirius, on his knees, playing with Teddy, so completely oblivious and so genuinely happy, he felt horrified; _horrified_ that James had done this.

.

Groping for something to make sense of this feeling, he turned to Remus, who had actually rescued _Sirius; remus who had chosen __not_ to yank happy pre-Azkaban Sirius out of time, which he could have done just as easily, but the messed up, depressed and sullen Sirius that had loved Harry when no one else had. His Sirius.

.

"…It was Dark Arts." Harry said, abruptly. "...Remus taught Defence Against the Dark Arts, Sirius. Not Care of Magical Creatures."

Sirius laughed. "That's even funnier." He pointed out. "A Werewolf teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, Moony? Maybe they'll let me teach it too."

"I would have…" Remus said.

As soon as he spoke, Harry could tell that Remus was also thinking it was _appalling_ that Sirius had lost so much of himself. But Remus was good at covering his feelings, and although the hoarseness of his voice made Sirius look round at once, he flashed him a smile back, clearing his throat as he knelt beside him and adjusted Teddy's slouchy position.

"...I _would_ have preferred to teach Care of Magical Creatures." He explained. "But as Harry will probably tell you, I just ignored the syllabus and spent the budget acquiring all the Magical Creatures I've ever fancied owning. It was fun, Pads. And Snape excelled himself, by teaching the students 'how to spot and kill Werewolves', while I was recovering from the full moon."

"_I hate him so much."_ Sirius growled, letting go of the baby to catch Remus's arm, holding him rather protectively. "I _hate_ him and we're going to catch him and kill him, Moony. Together."

.

"...Snape _didn't_ actually torture me." Harry reminded Sirius, uneasily. "Or take Regulus, at all."

"But he _did_ slice up Sirius's face." James pointed out, absently gesturing the double scars with the quill in his hand. Thin puffy lines, which ran across the bridge of Sirius's nose and through top and bottom lip. "...We'll deal with him soon enough, Pads. Did you find anything useful out, about the Time-turner? Or were you to busy looking for Rabastan and playing with dangerous beasts?"

"The Manticore was _guarding_ the Time-turner's hour glass." Sirius told him, haughtily. "Even I wouldn't release something like that, just for the fun of it, Prongs. Harry was distracting the Unspeakables, which was _hilarious_. And I killed the Manticore and got this…" He unfastened his top and pulled out a wad of parchments, inscribed in gold and decorated with inky pictures that curled and danced. "Which I think is the spells they've used to deactivate the Time-turner... But you know what I'm like with Ancient Runes, Prongs. What do you think? It's what it was guarding."

.

"...I think you're a _bloody genius!"_ James exclaimed, snatching them up and leafing keenly through the yellowing pages. "...Sirius, you are actually, a bloody genius!"

.

Sirius watched him, wetting his lips; lips that had clearly recently been cleaved in two by a violent spell. Harry hadn't asked before, what had happened. And none of them had told him that Snape had done that.

o0o

"...I am so happy." Sirius said, abruptly. James looked up from the parchments, he had been studying for the last hour.

Too excited to sit down, he was pacing back and forth as he read them.

"...I'm very glad to hear it, Padfoot." He said. "But shush, please, this is mind-blowingly complicated." Sirius grinned at him, settling back on the cushions and feeding Teddy spoonfuls of apple puree.

"...Am I Teddy's Godfather?" He asked Remus, quietly.

"...You are his first cousin, thrice removed." Remus said, equally softly. "...You were officially dead when he was born, remember?"

"Sadly, I cannot remember." Sirius reminded him, pretending to scowl at James, who didn't notice.

"...So, I asked Harry to be his Godfather." Remus added.

"Oh... Good... That is so nice." Sirius agreed, still whispering. Harry flashed him a grateful smile, moving to sit with them on the floor.

"You could be Teddy's Godfather, if you wanted." He said, earnestly. "You're an amazing Godfather, Sirius, and Teddy really loves you."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Harry." Sirius assured him. "But thank you."

"...I'm really sorry you don't remember stuff." Harry added, finally. "_I really am."_

"I'm sure it's for the best." Sirius pointed out. "Your father knows what he's doing."

"Your father is a _genius."_ James interrupted, with a bright grin. He dropped down beside them, spreading the parchments out on the floor. "This is all the spells protecting the Time-turner. Once I work out counter charms, we _will_ be able to make it work again."

"Good." Sirius said. "And me and Moony will go and get it back."

"Don't be like that, Messr Padfoot." James said, slapping his cheek, with a laugh. "I am _equally_ outraged at Snivelly's abysmal behaviour. He stole my _Elder Wand,_ and Harry."

"I'm not being like anything." Sirius assured him. "You'll be working out the spells we need to fix it for hours, and I want to go after Snivels _now_."

"And so do I." James assured him. "But we don't know where he is. And Dora will be home from work in… two hours? And she probably wants to cook for her husband and sit down to eat a nice dinner with him. Messr Moony does not want to spend the evening, chasing about the country, on a wild goose chase with you. If you want to go _now-_now, you will have to take a four month old baby with you, which I don't really see as practical option."

"I hate you, Prongs." Sirius comaplained. "He cut my face."

"Your _lovely_ face!" James scoffed. "We'll deal with him, soon enough. Have some patience, Padfoot. Play with Teddy. I'll know how to reverse the charms on the Time-turner by dusk."

"Sirius, would you come for a walk with me?" Harry said.

Sirius and James looked equally startled.

"My dad can have some peace to work and maybe Remus can cook some dinner for when Tonks gets home from work?"  
"You're a _housewife, _Moony!" James exclaimed, at once. Remus gave him a forced smile.

"Right." He said. "Yes. That's a very nice idea, Harry. I have been around here, rather a lot."  
"It is _your_ hovel." James reminded him, returning his attention to his parchment. "...You two go for a wander, Pads. Remus, go do some cooking and cleaning; you are actually a pretty awful housewife. We'll re-group at dusk. I will have the counter-charms ready, and Snivels will have no where to hide."


	68. Chapter 68

"So, what's up?" Sirius asked, wandering through the trees at Harry's side.

The day was hot and lots of birds were still singing. The light, blazing through the tree cover, was dappled and green. Harry, although he hoped he was hiding it well, was _very_ unhappy.

"...It's about my mum." He said, finally. He looked at Sirius; wondering suddenly if Sirius had liked his mum. Harry had always assumed Sirius had liked her, very much. There was the nice letter from her, that he'd found in Sirius's bedroom, and he had been Best Man at her wedding. But if Sirius did like her, then she was the only woman Harry knew of that Sirius had _ever_ liked. "...What was she like?" He asked. Sirius squinted at the sunny leaves above them, thinking about it.

"Well... She was splendid." He said. "...She loved you very much. She loved your father and she was clever and funny, and a very skilful witch."

"And did you like her?" Harry asked, glancing up at him. "She wrote you a letter."

"Did she?" Sirius asked, apparently surprised by this.

"Yes." Harry said. "A Thank You letter for my first birthday present."

"She had very good manners." Sirius added to the list of Lily's qualities. "...And she was organised and sensible."

"Is that a complement, coming from you?" Harry asked him. Sirius laughed.

"Yes, definitely." He said. "All the people I love best are sensible types. You can chose your friends but you can't choose yourself." Harry laughed. He looked at Sirius, who was still smiling, hands in his pockets, watching Harry as well. Harry's laughter died away.

"...I really can't stop thinking about her." He explained. "I want to go back and rescue her, like you did with my dad, and everyone." Sirius nodded; didn't say anything at all. "...I know that it might mess with events." Harry assured him. "But everything you and my dad have done could mess with time."

"I know." Sirius agreed.

"...And?" Harry asked. "Do you think we could? Could you talk to him?"

"I could." Sirius said. "But your father treasured your mother. If he believes we can't go back for her, then we can't. He will have thought of every way."

"But what if we just do it anyway? Like Remus did for you. He just did it, regardless, and it turned out alright. Better than alright."

"If James says…"

"Sirius, _please!"_ Harry interrupted him, frantically. Sirius stopped. He took Harry's arm, searching his face, as if he saw something of the utter turmoil Harry was actually feeling.

Harry had not stopped thinking about his mother, since Snape had shown him the box of her memories. He couldn't stop thinking about her, because _she was his mum. _Snape believed they could save her. Snape thought she was worth the risk... And she was Harry's mother.

.

But Sirius was Sirius.

.

"I want _you_ to help me." Harry told him. "I want _you _to help me, Sirius. _Please."_

"...Right." Sirius said. He kept his hand on Harry's arm, trying to think. "...Alright." He said. "We'll see what we can do."

"_Thank you."_ Harry whispered, in relief. At last he felt finally, _properly,_ happy.

~o0o~

James was still scribbling maniacally at the parchment, clearly not finished creating a spell to get the Time-turner re-started. Harry and Sirius both watched him for a moment. Then Harry took out his wand and cast a spell on the kettle. Between them, they made hot drinks and toast.

.

"...Prongs." Sirius set the mug down in front of him.

James closed his eyes, muttering something very complicated under his breath, in Latin.

.

"...Thanks for the toast." He said, finally, snatching a quick mouthful of black coffee.

"We need to talk to you." Harry said.

"Trying to keep a lot of Arithrimancy in my head right now." James said, quickly.

"_It's about Lily."_ Sirius said.

James blinked. He looked like he had just forgotten all the bits of Arithrimancy, in his head right now.

He took off his glasses and rubbed his sore eyes.

.

"...Right." He said, irritably. "Right. Great. Let's talk about Lily. That would be _splendid,_ Sirius. I'm not trying to focus on anything important here."

.

Harry did not feel sorry for James. He felt sorry for _himself. _He felt sorry for Lily_.  
_

"Why won't you go and get her?" He asked, calmly.

"Because you would cease to exist?" James said, barely giving it proper thought. "Because _she defeated the most evil wizard that ever existed."_

"Sirius got you." Harry butted in. "Remus got Sirius. Even if doing that hasn't change the past, I bet it has changed the future."

"Do you honestly think I haven't considered that?" James asked him.

"I think you have to get Lily!" Harry said. "If it was Ginny, I would get her! I would get her, _no matter what!_ Remus made you go back for Tonks! If you really loved her…"

His breath hitched as if he didn't know if he was actually going to say that.

"..._If you really loved Lily, you'd go back for her, no matter what_!" He said, desperately.

.

James put down his mug and his toast, clearing his mouth.

He looked at Sirius, who put his warm hand back, reassuringly against Harry's arm.

James looked at his son.

"No... No. You... You are an _insensitive immature little boy!"_ His voice rose sharply, shaking as he tried to control it. "My wife is _dead!_ _DEAD, do you understand!?_ And _you, _you have no idea how much I loved her! She was the _love of my life_! And I am leaving her behind because I am _brave_, Harry! Braver than Sirius! Clearly braver than Remus. And braver than _you!_ What you are talking about is selfishness! That's not_ love!_ Maybe you'll understand that, when you grow up! Now,_ go away,_ and let me work out how to break this enchantment, find Snape, and rescue my bloody Elder...!"

"James? _What's wrong?"_ Remus asked sharply, stepping out of the floo, with a frown already etched on his lined face.

"_Nothing!_" James shouted at him. "My Elder Wand. I am trying to work, Remus!"

"Are you alright. Harry?" Remus asked calmly, coming over to his far side.

"Harry is _trying_ to annoy me!" James snapped, angrily. "This is _bloody hard!_ Most people would tell you it's impossible. Go away, and find Snape. Get me my Time-turner!"

.

"It's Remus's Time-turner." Harry said.

James swung round, staring at him in astonishment.

"...What?" He said.

Harry didn't flinch, emerald eyes level with James'. "...Oh, yes!" James agreed, angrily. "I forgot! Remus was the Wizard who _stole _it. _So clearly that makes it his!_ Please go and retrieve _your_ Time-turner, Remus. Preferably before Snape works out how to fix it and goes back in time to murder all of us, in our sleep!"

"Snape wouldn't want to do that." Harry interjected. "Snape is on our side. He always was."

"Snape's on _his_ own side." James told him, angrily. "He was _always_ on his own side. Whichever side served his selfish desires the best. Now go away, before I say something I regret."

"You already have, Prongs." Sirius told him.

James's attention swung round; clever hazel eyes studying his best friend's face. "…Yes." He rubbed his eyes again. "Maybe... Look; this is _really hard._ I don't want to talk about Lily. None of you can understand what its like for me. You don't know what it's like to be married."

"I _am_ married." Remus pointed out.

"Remus; you like your _best friend_ better than your wife." James pointed out, with a hard angry laugh. "Don't insult what I had with Lily."

"_That_ is insulting." Remus assured him, his voice calm but low, like a growl. James laughed in his face.

"That is the _truth, Remus_!" He cried. "Go on, tell us that it isn't the truth!"

**AN:Review? I'd really appreciate the feedback. **


	69. Chapter 69

"I have come back from the dead." Sirius pointed out.

"And I love my wife." Remus said. "And I love my son, more than anything in the world."

"Well, go home then." James suggested.

"So you don't want us to retrieve the Time-turner?" Remus asked him, calmly.

"Get my wand!" James ordered him. "_Sirius!"_ He corrected, sharply. "Sirius, go and get my wand."

Growling, Sirius caught Remus and Harry and took them both out of the cabin.

.

"...What on earth was that about?" Remus asked, at once.

"Harry wants to go and get Lily." Sirius explained.

Harry, himself, said nothing, more shocked than he could ever begin to express.

"...I really am not sure what to say to you, Harry." Remus said, slowly. "It must seem so terribly unjust. To have the power to rescue her and the knowledge that it would be impossibly damaging to do so. I wonder… I wonder if it would be possible to go back and see her?"

"I would like that." Harry said, but then he shook his head. "No." He added, slowly. "I want to _get_ her. We can deal with the consequences, afterwards. But first we get her."

"There may not be an afterwards." Remus said. "Not for some of us."

"I don't care." Harry said. "I care about getting my mum. Like you cared about getting Sirius. Like he cared about getting my dad. We have to just do it…" He looked at Sirius's desperately. "_I am going to do it_." He said, willing Sirius to understand exactly what he was saying. "But I want _you_ to help me, Sirius." He clarified, again.

"...Well?" Sirius asked Remus. "What do you think? I don't think James will be angry, after the act."

"I think…" Remus sighed, running his fingers through his greying hair. "…I think 'no', Pads." He said. "I'm sorry, Harry. I think... We would lose Teddy, probably you, maybe Sirius... And the cost in human life; if we let Voldemort win the First War…"  
"But we could go back!" Harry pointed out. "Because we'd have the Time-turner and the Elder Wand. Whatever goes wrong, we can fix it, afterwards."

"We could take Teddy with us." Sirius said, quietly. "Under the chain, Moony. He would be safe then, unaffected by any changes we caused."

"Only one of us could go." Remus pointed out. "If it's to bring Lily here. And what about baby Harry?"

"What would happen if Harry and Teddy went back and got Lily and _Baby_ Harry?" Sirius asked. "What would happen then?"

"What would happen if 'Harry' brought 'baby Harry' back _with_ him?" Remus asked, slightly incredulously. "_I don't know, _Pads_._ I don't imagine _anyone_ knows. Maybe nothing; maybe there would just just be two people with the same genes and different life experiences, like identical twins. Or maybe time itself, would blow up and the World would end. I strongly recommend we don't try and find out."

.

"_Just Lily."_ Harry said. "Just my mum."

"You'd die, Harry._"_ Remus pointed out. "Voldemort would kill you."

"Yes. I know." Harry admitted. "But I wouldn't know what was happening. and if it was me that went back for her, then maybe I would be alright, because I would be outside of time when the changes happened. Like how James remembered you looking after Teddy, when he was outside of time, rescuing Tonks."

"No...it sounds insane." Remus told him, honestly.

"And Lily wouldn't want you to die for her, Harry." Sirius pointed out. "She'd want you to live. She loved you."

"Please, Sirius." Harry said, pretty sure Sirius knew he was begging him, without him having to state it. "We'll just do it, and then we'll fix whatever goes wrong afterwards. Or you can, if I'm not here."

"No." Sirius said. "If it was possible, James would have done it." And this time, with Remus agreeing as well, there seemed no room left for argument.

.

They went back to Remus's little house.

James was still scribbling away at the table. The light was going and he'd lit candles.

"I'm sorry, Harry." He said, muscle twitching above his angular jaw. "This is very hard and I need to get it finished, to get my wand."

"Can you stop for five minutes?" Harry asked him. "Remus will have to go home soon." James considered Remus for a moment, before putting down his quill and nodding.

"Yes, of course." He said. "I didn't mean to shout, Harry. I hope you appreciate that I am under a lot of pressure and having you here is very strange for me to get used to. I've lost my baby son _and_ I have to get used to an angry teenager, raised by idiots with values nothing like my own."

Harry made more drinks, wondering if his father realised how inappropriate that was. For someone so clever, he seemed to have very little grasp on how his words made other people feel.

Vaguely, behind his turned back, Harry was aware of the three Marauders talking stiltedly to each other. It was not how he he had imagined they would be together, at all.

His father, he thought bitterly, was not like he had imagined he would be.

.

He set the mugs in front of the three men. Tea for Remus. Black coffee, with too much sugar, for his father. And tea for Sirius.

Harry's watched Sirius peer down into his cup, feeling his stomach turned over uneasily, because tea was not the only thing Harry had put into that cup.

.

But Sirius was maybe only wanting coffee. He always drank tea with Remus; and he always drank coffee with Harry's father. Now, with all three of them back together, Harry thought that Sirius didn't know which drink to choose. Maybe, Harry thought, Sirius should take a moment to himself, to decide which drink actually left a better taste in his mouth.

With such a deep metaphorical thought distracting him from the fact that he had just poisoned his own father, his godfather, and Remus, Harry managed to sit quietly and wait for the phial of Snape's most undetectable sleeping draft to take effect.

.

One by one the three men slumped, unconscious, on the wooden table.

Harry felt sick with treachery, especially over Sirius, whom he was sure _would_ have helped him, if James hadn't been there.

But it was too late, now.

He had tried his hardest to convince them to help his mum, and they had refused; just as Snape had told him they would.

Harry gathered up the parchments, which Sirius had killed the Manticore to get. He gathered up the notes his father had made on how to make the Time-turner work again, and with a final glance at the three slumped figures, he disapparated back to Spinner's End.

**AN: Not sure I even dare ask for reviews for this chapter! But I (nervously) want to know what you think.**

**Is Harry going this far to try to save his mum out of character? Is Sirius out of character? Or James?**

**Gah! I was stressed posting this chapter! I hope it's okay. I'm trying not to make anyone seem too 'perfect' but not awful either.**


	70. Chapter 70

**AN: THANK YOU! Those have to be the most amazingly thoughtful and detail reviews ever! I was honestly blown away; sinner . vs .saint, Snarky64, Jane, Moltav, person, Daddy's Wrackspurt Siphons, littleblondgirl, Kazo Sakamari, hoperocks98, and hule! Thank you! That really was just the most amazing feedback.  
**

**.**

**I don't want to spoil the plot but, as it came up a lot, Regulus has NOT gone off to live 'happily ever after'. He does like Hermione, _a lot,_ but she isn't 'of pureblood' and of course she's in a relationship with Ron, which he is _trying_ to respect. But he will be back; promise.**

~o0o~

Time had been passing slowly in Spinner's End.

Severus moved irritably through the house, picking at things because he found it hard to sit still.

There was inadequate room and supplies to make much in the way of potions, and there was no purpose to do anything. Albus was dead. Voldemort was dead.

Severus was a public enemy and could never go back to Hogwarts again.

All the children he had cared for would now have a new House Master, and his rooms would probably be occupied by Horace, his possessions boxed up and discarded.

He studied the writing engraved on the golden rings of the Time-turner, its delicate chain, the tiny hourglass. And he thought about the past, which he could almost, _almost_ reach out and touch. It was more alive to him than ever before, because there seemed to be no present or future left for him at all.

.

And then Harry returned.

Hurrying through the peeling front door, calling out anxiously, he arrived with armfuls of parchments.

_Harry had actually come back_.

.

Severus let him talk; watching Harry spreading the thick parchments out on the table; telling Severus how Sirius had killed a Manticore to retrieve them and pointing out his father's scrawl, violet ink covering the ancient golden letters, plotting out a way to reverse the enchantment.

Harry had given them the sleeping draft, all three of them.

Severus had no idea what to say to him; so he didn't say anything. He took over with the organisation of James's notes, hurrying to work out what James hadn't finished, before the sleeping draft wore off and The Marauders realised what had happened to them.

.

Harry had taken a seat unobtrusively beside the table. He didn't bother Severus, at all, and was still sitting their when Severus made the final amendments to James's plan and tested it on the small golden device. The milky grains of sand in the hourglass shimmered and then slid easily into the opposing bulb. Harry moved forward slightly in his seat. "...Did it work?" He asked, quietly.

"Yes. It seems so." Severus said.

It was the first word either had spoken for more than two hours.

"So?" Harry asked. "You're going to go back and get her? My mum?"

He watched Severus nod. He looked relieved. Severus didn't know what to say to him. He probably didn't have to say anything, because there was a very good chance that Harry wouldn't be here, when he came back.

If he came back.

_Could this possibly work?_

It was hard to believe it would work out, when so little in Severus's life had ever worked out.

He forced a thin lipped smile for Harry, who forced a brave smile back at him. _He does actually realise what is going to happen to him,_ Severus thought.

But he didn't have time to dwell on that.

"...I will try to change as little as possible, Harry." He informed him, calmly. It felt better to say 'Harry' than 'Potter'. Probably he would never address him by either name again.

"Thank you, Professor." Harry said, rather formally. "Can I… Could I look at my mum's things, in the box?" He asked, quietly. "While you do it?"

Severus inclined his head. He watched Harry pad silently out of the room and up the stairs, and then he started to twist the Time-turner again.

.

~o0o~

.

Godrick's Hollow was cool. A vast sea of stars hung above the ruins of the home Lily had shared with her husband.

Severus had apparated onto what was left of the burnt out Master Bedroom. Taking a calming breath he cast one last look around, for anyone trying to stop him, and released Time-turner. In his shaking hands the the golden rings spun, faster and faster, until they blurred into a golden ball.

.

It was pitch black and cold. He was in a derelict bedroom, standing on bare floorboards, but he knew he had timed it perfectly.

And _there was no fire damage._

In the distance he could see Death Eaters waiting, watching. So Voldemort was already in the house beneath him.

.

"Lily?" He whispered. "Lily… Let me through the Fidalias Charm… _Lily?"_

.

A moment later the vision shimmered and was replaced with wallpaper and carpet.

_And Lily._

Lily, clutching her baby and staring at him, wand raised in fear.

"I'm here to help you." Severus told her calmly. He had rehearsed what he was going to say a thousand times while he'd waited, thinking and hoping that Harry would come back to help him.

"You're a Death Eater, Sev." Lily said.

_She sounded the same._

_She looked the same._

_- _Only a thousand times more real and detailed than he had expected.

_He could smell her perfume._

Beneath their feet, spells rocked the downstairs of the house.

_Black and Potter are down there,_ Severus thought, _running away, leaving her here to die with her baby._

.

"I am not a Death Eater anymore." Severus told her. "I am here to save you. Can you trust me, Lily?"

.

A loud bang beneath them was followed by what sounded like the beginning of a fire. _Please trust me_, he thought.

Lily stared at him, trying to think.

Her eyes really were exactly the same colour as Harry's.

.

"_Yes."_ She said.

She dropped the wand.

"Sevy. I know a spell to save Harry. Little Peter found it. If you can keep him from the room for…"  
"You have to trust _me_." Severus told her, firmly.

He could hear Voldemort on the stairs, and knew that Potter and Black had already fled, saving their own miserable skins. "...Put Harry in the wardrobe." Severus told her. "_Quickly._" He thrust a pillow down into the cot, pulling the blanket's around it. "And trust _me."_

Lily looked up at him; so calm considering she was preparing to meet her death. _So brave_.

"_Always, Sev_." She said, and she forced a smile, before bending over the cot, tucking the pillow in and pretending to sooth it.

~o0o~

The Dark Lord blew the obstructions away from the door. Lily hunched over the cot, her talk growing faster, fear filling her voice. Severus listened to the Dark Lord ordering her to step aside and be spared, _for him_, and then he raised the Elder Wand to the back of Lord Voldermort's head and cast the killing curse, _Avada Kedavra!_ And watched Lord Voldemort crash to the floor.

.

"...You killed Voldemort." Lily stammered, hands clutching her head as she stared at the slumped body, suddenly smaller in death. Thick black hair fell over his pale face and a single hand lay, touching a leg of the cot. "Oh... _shit, Sevy!_ _You just killed Voldemort!" _Lily yelled at him.

"You have to trust me for just a little longer." Severus told her. He was determind to keep calm now. He was actually _determind_ to do everything he could to keep everything as unchanged as possible. _For Harry._

For Harry, who had made this possible.

~o0o~

He took the baby out of the wardrobe. It was screaming, the shrieks growing louder as he lifted it.

Ignoring Lily's waiting arms, he put the baby down in the cot, still screaming. "Please trust me." Severus said calmly. "...And _don't look_." And he cast S_eptumsempra!" Slashing three times into the baby's forehead, carving the lightening scar into its proper place._

_._

After that everything seemed to happen quickly. The golden chain, slipped around both their necks, and a protective shield charm around the screaming, bleeding, baby's crib to protect it from the flames.

Severus shoved the golden pin back in place with a violently shaking hand. Lily gripped tightly against his chest and a moment later the baby's screams vanished, and he was back in the ringing silence of his house in Spinner's End, _with Lily Potter clutched against his chest_.


	71. Chapter 71

"What happened?" Lily asked, lifting the golden chain off her head and stumbling across the room.

"Where are we?" He watched her eyes widen; her face grow horribly pale, as she stared at him. "Oh my God! ..._MY BABY!"_ The words seemed to rasp out from the very centre of her soul.

"Harry's alright." Severus said, frantically. "He's alright, Lily!"

He had no idea if Harry was alright. He had no idea of _anything_ beyong the fat that the walls of his home in Spinner's End were still standing. What would greet them beyond the house's door, was anyone's guess.

_"Take me back!_" Lily screamed. Severus had to disarm her, as she thrust he wand at him.

"He's safe." Severus promised.

_And if Harry wasn't, he would use the Time-turner and get Harry for her. Any Harry._

_Surely the baby would have survived for a little while_.

.

Lily curled over, clutching her stomach, making a low keening noise, that _terrible _noise which he had seen many victims of the Death Eater's make, when watching the torture of their loved ones. "Harry is alive, Lily." He promised, urgently trying to uncurl her. "Harry is alive and safe. He's older, Lily. We're in the future. It's a Time-turner. Harry is…" And was, because Harry had just crept into the room, looking _terrified_.

Severus' eyes caught on the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. _I did that_, he thought_, I carved that mark into your infant skin._

"_James!?_" Lily screeched, lurching towards him, and then shielding away in horror as she realised her mistake.

"It's... Harry." Harry said, staring fearfully at Lily as she staggering away from him, across the room, clutching at herself with taloned hands. "...You saved my life and... I grew up." Harry said, trying very hard to sound calm, as Lily stared at him, green eyes bulging in horror. She'd reached the back of the room and banged into the wall, hunched against it, staring at them.

"He is." Severus tried to tell her. "It's your son, grown up. You saved him. He's alright."

"_My baby_." Lily whispered, nails gigging into her stomach as she clutched at herself. It was clear to both of them that she did not mean the teenager standing in front of her. "..._James_… _Oh God, no!_"

.

"James is alive as well." Harry said. He actually sounded a lot calmer than Severus felt.

Lily suddenly gasped breath,as if the words had sunk slowly through her horror. "...James is alive?"

"He fled like a coward." Severus told her, without hesitation. "He left you to die."

"He didn't." Harry said, at once.

"Yes, he did." Severus said. Lily's eyes moved from one to the other, staring at them. Suddenly her eyes lifted up to Harry's forehead.

"...You marked him." She whispered. "_You marked Harry with a lightning bolt."_

"Yes." Severus said. "This _is_ Harry. I was trying to make as little changes as possible." He added, calmly. He could see Lily's white hand, trembling so violently it appeared to be shaking. He hadn't imagined she would be this upset, but it didn't matter. She would calm down. All that mattered what that she was here, and she was alive.

.

"You made my scar?" Harry said, a hand rising to feel the familiar zig-zag.

"Not originally." Severus explained, quickly. "I tried to make everything appear the same."

"But Voldemort." Harry stammered. "The Horcruxes."

"That didn't change?" Severus asked, relief finally making him turn to look at Harry.

"I wouldn't know if anything had changed." Harry pointed out, still feeling his scar, still staring at Lily with wide eyes. "...I thought Voldemort gave me the scar. I thought my parents had died…" He glanced at Severus but his eyes were drawn back, of their own volition, to stare at the trembling red haired woman.

"Then I found out that Remus had rescued Sirius and my dad… I spent a year in a tent destroying Horcruxes. There was a battle at Hogwarts, me and my dad killed Voldemort. Neville Longbottom killed Nangini, after she got you. And Rowena's Diadem. We… Destroyed it…"

"James helped you kill Voldemort?" Severus asked, quickly.

"In the final battle." Harry nodded. "Yes. Is that… Has that changed because you rescued my mum?"

"Yes." Severus admitted. "Everything else sounds the same but... James killed Voldemort?"

"But everyone thinks that it was me." Harry said. "He was wearing his invisibility cloak and he had the Elder Wand. You have the Elder Wand now."

.

"_James is alive?"_ Lily demanded, suddenly. "James killed Voldemort? _You_ killed Voldemort, Sev." And she gesturing behind her, as if 'moment's ago' existed somewhere through that wall.

"_You did_?" Harry asked.

Severus wet his thin lips, repressing the hint of a smile. "Well, yes." He admitted. "I did. But of course he had the Horcruxes. So he came back."

"Yes. And…" Harry paused, and a smile flickered over his lips, making his green eyes sparkle for a moment before he looked down. "…And my dad finished him off." He said, mildly.

"Well done, James." Severus said.

"Oh, but now we're in trouble." Harry added. "The Unspeakables know about the Time-turner. They think that Hermione…"

"Yes, that all sounds the same." Severus cut him off. "I am slightly surprised; but… it seems nothing has changed.

"_It worked_."

.

"_Harry_!" Lily shouted.

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin.

_"Harry!"_ She screamed again. "_Harry! My baby!"_

And suddenly she was throwing herself across the room, crazily tugging him about and crying, holding him roughly as she frantically examined, and questioned, and sobbed wretchedly, holding him against her.

.

~o0o~

It took a long time for Lily to calm down.

Severus made a calming draft and coaxed her to sip it.

He had not imagined Harry would be so heavily involved in his reunion with Lily.

He had not actually imagined Harry being present at all.

But here Harry was, crying and telling Lily how much _he_ loved her, while Severus made them sweet milky tea.

He had dreamt of this moment for so long.

He should be fuming, having to share it with Harry.

He was sure he should, but he couldn't. Because _it had worked_.

_It had worked. He had saved Lily._

.

"So where's James?" Lily asked him.


	72. Chapter 72

Sirius woke up to the jarring pain, as the corner of a chair colided with his eyebrow. A moment later he hit the floor. The chair had clearly been vacated moments earlier by Remus, who was now soaking a cloth in cold water, letting Sirius crawl about, failing to make his wobbly legs obey him.

"Sit still." He suggested, finally, pushing Sirius against the armchair and kneeling with him on the floor.

Blood was getting in his eye already and he let Remus hold the cold cloth over it, trying to think. "You alright, Pads?" He asked, calmly. Sirius just shook his head. There was no way he could possibly be alright about this. "…Do you think he gave James more?" Remus added, presently. He was still holding the cloth over Sirius's cut brow, but his eyes were firmly focused on James, still asleep at the table. Sirius looked like he might start sobbing and not like he wanted an audience, or indeed sympathy. He didn't acknowledge the question, so Remus continued to hold the cloth for a few more minutes, until James also veered off his chair, and he had to move away, to stop James falling as well.

~o0o~

"Right," James said, when he was steady enough to take his mug over to the sink, for fresh water. "That was... unexpected."

He returned to the table and sipped it, watching Sirius pulling himself together. "...I was too hard on him, wasn't I?" He added, presently.

"This must have been preplanned." Remus consoled him. "Snape must have given the sleeping potion when he abducted him. He's taken the plans to fix the Time-turner." He gestured the empty table between them. "I think it's safe to assume that Severus was more willing to help him rescue Lily, than we were." He said, watching Sirius, uneasily.

"_This is what Peter did."_ Sirius whispered finally.

"It's not as bad as what Peter did." Remus assured him. "But this _is_ what happens when you trust people."

"You're what happens when you _don't_ trust people." James snapped, irritably. "Instead of telling us what we should and shouldn't have done, maybe you could let me think how to get back my Elder Wand, my time-turner, and Lily."

"You think Snape's got Lily?" Sirius exclaimed.

"But everything will have changed." Remus said, face draining of blood.

"_Teddy_." Sirius's lips shaped the word, barely a whisper.

James laughed, at his friend's equally horrified expressions.

"You pair of moron's!" He chuckled, cheered up a lot by this. "Time has no doubt changed, but you can't know how, because your memories will have changed along with everything else."

"But, _my son_?" Remus said, very calmly.

"He's fine!" James assured him. "The very fact that you know you have a son, proves that you still have one, doesn't it? You might have had a dozen other children, that you've now forgotten about. The very fact that you _know_ Teddy exists, proves that he still does, doesn't it."

"Do you understand that?" Sirius asked, uneasily.

"I think so." Remus said.

"You should go and check anyway?" Sirius suggested.

"Yes." Remus agreed, and still pale faced he threw floo powder into the fire and vanished into the green flames.

.

"You are a pair of idiots! Teddy is_ fine."_ James stated, completely confidently. "And I still remember killing Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts, so he is presumably still dead. And Harry... Harry has just had a silly teenage lapse of judgement, Pads." James stated. Sirius nodded, but he didn't lift his eyes off the fire.

For a moment the small house grew silent. The last of the floo powder had burnt away, and the flames licked quiet and orange again, casting shadows over the scars on Sirius' cheek.

"...Sirius?" James said, watching him. "_My Lily is alive."_

Sirius lifted his eyes to meet his best friends.

"That's good." He agreed, summoning a quite genuine looking smile. "That's really good, James."

~o0o~

"…_Teddy's alright!_" Remus flung himself back out of the fire.

James rolled his eyes, as Sirius let his breath out in sheer and utter relief.

"Don't take my work for it, will you, Moony?" James complained. "This is all going to be fine. The Time-turner is fixed, I've still killed Voldemort, and when have we _ever_ been unable to deal with Snivels?"

With this sentiment still hanging in the air, there was a sharp knock at the door.

The three Marauders exchanged glances.

The miles of trees in every direction, and the lack of any road by which the lonely house could be reached suggested it was not a random Muggle visitor.

James, Remus and Sirius raised their wands and opened the door.

~o0o~

It was Harry.

Pale faced and frightened. He studied the wands raised at his face in silence.

_"My mum is alive."_ He stated.

"Yes. We had gathered that." James said, pulling off the cloak. "Where is she?"

"With Snape. _He killed Voldemort."_

"_I_ killed Voldemort." James said. "Where exactly are they, Harry?"

"_When Voldemort tried to kill me and Lily, in 1981," _Harry said, instead. "..._Snape killed him. There was no rebounding curse. Snape_ cut the scar into my forehead, to keep everything as unchanged as possible. Almost nothing has changed. Everything happened the same. Everything except originally, at the Battle of Hogwarts, _I_ killed Voldemort but now, you killed him..."

"Trust me." James cut him short. "_If _you _can_ manage to trust me_, for once_." He added, pointedly. "You_ never_ could have killed Voldemort, Harry. If I hadn't killed him, he would have hit you with the killing curse, and you would have died. Where is Lily?"

"With Snape. I don't know where. But I couldn't leave her to die… I'm sorry I drugged you… All of you." He added, although this was directed entirely at Sirius. "I couldn't leave her. She's my _mum_."

"You never had the pleasure of meeting Sirius's mother." James said. "But suffice to say, he does not understand. He will not be rushing back to save his mother any time soon. I, on the other hand, had a lovely mother, so I do understand entirely why you did it, Harry. And I forgive you."

"Thank you." Harry said. He looked back at Sirius, before following his father inside.

"...I forgive you, but I may not trust you to prepare any food or drinks for some time." James added. "Sit down and tell me exactly where you've come from. How is Lily coping with being in the future?"

"Okay." Harry said. "She wants to see you."

"And Snape won't let her?" James scowled. "I hope you are you up for a little Marauding, Pads?"

"Always." Sirius said. "What did you have in mind?"

"Find that greasy shit and get my wife back." James said. "I shall now do some _Occlumency_, Harry. You just relax and I will have a little sift around in your mind."

"I don't know where they went." Harry said again. "I told you. They disapparated."

"I'd feel more like trust you, if you hadn't drugged me this morning." James pointed out. "You just relax, this won't hurt in the slightest."

"I don't want…" Harry began, ignored entirely, as James cast _Legilimens!_, and Harry felt that familiar seasickness from Snape's lessons; the rush of images, jumping like a vivid uncontrollable dream, into the forefront of his mind.

.

_…Kneeling on the floor in Snape's bedroom... The box of treasured memories of Lily... Privately breaking down and crying as he smelt his mums faint perfume in an empty bottle… Snape giving him the sleeping draft and telling him to put it into his father and Sirius's drinks… Telling Lily he had to speak to James and Sirius… Kissing Ginny months ago… Seeing his father for the first time… Watching Snape and Lily disapparating... Running with Sirius after he had killed the Manticore… Lily thinking he was James... Lily clutching frantically at him…  
_

.

Harry finally managed to break the spell. He had fallen on the floor, shaking violently.

"They were in Spinners End." He heard James say to Sirius. "Break into the house and look for any clues to where they might have gone. Snape has got to be short of options, hasn't he. There's a fidelius charm on the house. You can you break them, right, Pads?"

"Of course." Sirius shrugged. "They only work on humans."

"Good. Take Moony. Get my Elder Wand. It shouldn't be too hard. It won't serve him."

"And Snape?" Sirius said.

"Remind him not to slash people's faces with dark magic."

"_Gladly_." Sirius assured him. He waited for Remus at the door.

~o0o~

"…Are you sure you've thought this through, James?" Remus asked, before he left. "Snape has saved Lily's life."

"Snape has _abducted_ my wife, stolen my Elder Wand, convinced my son to poison me, and slashed up my best friend's face. And that is only today. Either help Sirius, or go home and play happy families. It's your choice, Remus."

.

Harry's mind was still throwing random memories in front of his eyes. A pounding headache seemed to be squashing down on his vision, and everything seemed to be happening disjointedly and too fast for him to react to.

_James had forgiven him._

But then _he'd forced his way into Harry's mind._

Now he was sending a blazingly angry Sirius out to do, God only knew what.

And only Remus, looking very 'Professor Lupin' was standing his ground… And _Thank God _he was_,_ Harry thought.

.

"Snape hasn't abducted Lily." Remus pointed out. "He's saved her life, James. And everything else he has done, he's done with the sole intention of saving her life."

"So where is she then, Remus?" James asked, voice caustic.

James Potter did not like being argued with.

_Why was James like this?_ Harry had thought James would be perfect. Not _perfect,_ but not like this.

"James, why don't you send her an owl?" Remus suggested. "Or your patrona."

"No." James said. "You track her down and get her back. Snape is keeping us apart."

"_He_ may be." Remus reasoned, utterly unphased. "But Lily won't be, James. Send her your patrona. It'll find her."

.

"Go on your own, Pads!" James ordered. "And don't come back without Lily and the Elder Wand!"

"Right." Sirius said.

But he didn't go. He stayed in the doorway.

"…Coming Moony?" He asked, finally.

"_No_!" James interrupted at once. "He's going home, Pads! To his _wife _and his_ baby, _so _man up, _and g_o on your own!_"

"Right." Sirius said again, but he didn't. He turned back to Remus; looking over at him silently, before going through the door.

"James, this is a _dangerous and pointless thing to do_." Remus told him, firmly. "We should be dealing with The Unspeakables. Severus has saved Lily's life." And with that, he stalked through the door, caught Sirius' arm and disapparated out of the hovel's overgrown garden.


	73. Chapter 73

Harry was still holding the floor but the images flashing and jumping in his brain had slowed down and he wasn't going to be sick. Carefully he climbed back to his feet.

.

James was still sitting at the table, tapping the wood irritably with his nails. He looked at Harry thoughtfully, but he didn't say anything at all.

"I came to tell you that Lily was alive." Harry told him. "Because I thought you'd want to know."

"I already knew." James said. "What else would Snape want the Timeturner for?" Harry nodded. He knew this was true.

What Harry didn't know, and it was an appalling thing to discover, was if he even _liked_ James, at all.

James had been adamant that Lily couldn't be rescued, but he hadn't even tried. As Snape had repeatedly pointed out, James and Sirius _had_ left Lily to die. And James had been completely wrong. Lily had been _easy_ to rescue. And now, Harry had come back to tell him that Lily was saved, and this was the reaction it got; aggressive occlumancy, and Sirius being sent to take Lily and the Elder Wand with force.

.

"So, where are you staying?" James said, looking at Harry again. "Harry? Where are you currently staying?"

"What?" Harry said, caught off guard.

"Living." James said, frowning slightly. "You need somewhere safe to live. I'll write to Molly Weasley. And you can go back to school in September and re-sit your final year." Harry didn't have anything to say to this, at all. "You should go now." James added. "I'm going to be busy."

.

~o0o~

.

Ron, who was not the most sensitive soul in the world, took one look at Harry's face and hurried him through the overcrowded Burrow, to his room, at the top of the house.

.

"_I don't like my dad._" Harry said, stated it, staring hard at Ron's faded Quidditch posters. "I don't like him, Ron. He's bloody horrible."

"Right." Ron said. "He's like… What? Your dad is _awesome_, Harry! He brought Fred back _from the dead!" _He pointed out. "And Sirius, too."

"_Remus_ brought Sirius back!" Harry said, angrily. "_Remus_ did that! _Remus_ got the Timeturner! _Remus_ rescued Sirius!"

"Oh yeah. Well, your Dad's rescued loads of people, Harry." Ron pointed out. "The Slimy-Slytherin, for a start; Moody, Tonk's and her dad. _Fred,_ Harry."

"It was _Sirius's_ idea to rescue Moody and Ted, just to make Tonks and Remus happy." Harry corrected him. "And did you know my dad rescued Hedwig?"

"Yeah. Yeah, your dad rescued Hedwig for you, Harry!"

"_No, he didn't_!" Harry said, angrily. "_Sirius did that_! Sirius did it! Because Sirius knew how much I loved Hedwig. Sirius fell off his broom, _in the invisibility cloak,_ trying to save Hedwig's life! And _Sirius_ kept her safe and looked after her, in his bedroom! All so that my dad could get the credit for giving her back to me!"  
.

Jaw clenched so hard his teeth might crack, Harry glared at the faded posters, hands clenched angrily.

"They both love you, Harry." Ron pointed out uncertainly. "Sirius is an ace Godfather and your Dad… He rescued _Fred_, Harry."

"Only because I asked him to." Harry said, stubbornly.

.

He wanted to tell Ron that James had used occlumancy on him, when he hadn't wanted him to; but it felt too awful to admit. "…And he called Professor Snape 'Snivels', as well." He added. Ron grinned broadly, trying to hide his mouth. Harry glared at him. "And he had a massive go at me!" Harry added. "All because I said he should get Lily, which he should have."

"Well… She was his wife, Harry. I'm sure he would have got her, if he could. I doubt he wants to talk about it with you."

"He didn't! He said it was impossible!"

"He's rescued loads of people." Ron reasoned. "I'm sure he would, if he could, Harry."

"He didn't! He said it was impossible!" Harry said again, angrily. "And he stopped Sirius helping me get her. And Sirius would have! And it was all rubbish! And James doesn't even care. He's a git! A rubbish miserable… toerag!"

.

Ron snorted, covering his mouth and desperately trying to sound like he was coughing. He stepped away from Harry to avoid being thumped. "…I don't think 'toerag' is even a word, Harry!" He managed, finally.

Harry's mouth was hanging open and he shut it, sitting himself angrily on the end of Ron's bed. "…It's what my mum called him." He said. "And she was right! He really is… _Why are you laughing, Ron!?_"

.

Ron _was _laughing. He wasn't really trying not to, but the harder he tried to stop, the worse it became. Harry stared at him, not sure if he was more angry or astonished. _Why was Ron laughing!?_

"Do you understand how serious this is!?" Harry demanded, angrily.

"I'm sorry!" Ron assured him, biting his fist. "Go on, mate. Your Dad is doing your head in. Harry, do you honestly think my dad never does my head in? You have met my parents, right?"

"But…" Harry said. "But… _Your parents are wonderful!_" He pointed out. "My dad… He's arrogant! And bossy! He's inconsiderate of other people's feelings!"

"My dad is henpecked and thinks 'plugs' are exciting." Ron reminded him.

"James is nothing like me!" Harry cried.

"And I bloody pray my dad's nothing like me!" Ron laughed. "Harry… _Why are you so upset_?"

"_Because_!" Harry said. "I told you! He's arrogant!"

"Messr Prongs is allowed to be arrogant." Ron pointed out. "Your dad is _cool_. He's a genius. I _wish_ he was _my_ dad."

"_How can you say that_!?" Harry screeched, sounding alarmingly like Ginny going off on one. "_Your dad loves you_!"

"You have got to calm down, mate." Ron assured him. "Your dad is ace. I'm not sure what your problem is. Parents can be pretty annoying, but your dad is the coolest."

"He said I should live here." Harry told him. "He said he's going to be busy."

"That's brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, delighted. "Mum never minds. She loves you more than me, I think. She's been missing you something rotten. But don't be off with Ginny all the time..."

"_James doesn't want me to live with him_!" Harry couldn't believe Ron was missing the point.

"He's in hiding from The Ministry, Harry." Ron pointed out, confused. "And you're the world famous 'Harry Potter'. People are going to wonder where you've gone, if you stay with him. And The Ministry are launching a massive manhunt for Sirius, because of his stupid slimy brother getting caught flying Hermione about on Muggle cameras. Harry... Parents are meant to be annoying, aren't they. It's their job. Even ace ones, like yours."

.

Harry didn't say anything. But parents were not meant to be annoying.

_Parents were meant to be parents._

_They were meant to be better than James_.


	74. Chapter 74

Sirius was happy. There was a very canine part of his soul that could happily chase and hunt things down till the end of time. And he hated Snape. He hated him for being a cowardly dark-arts obsessed weirdo at school. He hated him for being a half-blood that chose to become a Death Eater. He hated him for getting James and Lily killed, and he hated him for a decade of abusing his position as a teacher, for bullying Harry and for being the Headmaster that had put the Carrows in charge of Curcio-ing children.

These were not actually things Sirius had witnessed first-hand; mostly he'd heard them from Remus, but that didn't stop him reminding Remus, as graphically as he possibly could, as they hurried through the narrow streets to Spinners End.

.

"…He was loyal to Dumbledore." Remus said, keeping pace with him, shoulder to shoulder, in a way that Sirius loved.

Remus could pretend he was arguing against Marauding, but that unity of movement spoke otherwise.

A Wizard might think they were arguing, for their complete lack of eye-contact, but Sirius was watching the road ahead and his right, and he knew that Remus had his back, and the left side, covered.

"…And Snape went back for Lily, because he loved her, Pads."

_How did anyone watch their own back? Was that even possible?  
_

"...You didn't see his memories in the pensive." Sirius pointed out. "He wanted Voldemort to kill James and Harry and to take Lily for him. He was going to have her, for his horrible Death Eater-self. Can you imagine what they'd have done with her? A 'Muggle-born Mudblood', insane with grief for her dead baby?"

"James didn't show me Snape's memories." Remus pointed out.

"Then maybe you should just trust my judgement then?" Sirius suggested. "And Snivels bullied Frank Longbottom's orphaned son." He reminded Remus. Sirius couldn't, for the life of him, remember what Franks' son was called, but he did know that Remus was particularly angry about this.

"_I_ told you about that." Remus reminded him. "...Why would Snape, of all people, bully a shy awkward child? Why would he do that? It's history repeating in the worst possible way. At a boarding school, a teacher, in a position of responsibility repeatedly, bullying, publicly humiliating a child. Maybe I have exagerated it, going over it too long in my mind."

"Rubbish, Moony!" Sirius assured him. "I bet he loved it. Making himself feel big, bullying that poor little boy. Picking on Harry as well!"

_Going after Snape was so much more fun, when he was doing it with Remus. It was one of life's great pleasures._

"…Frank's son went on to kill Nangini." Remus told him. "With the sword of Gryffindor, Pads."

"Undoubtedly thanks to your boggart training! Making it look like Snape in a dress!" Sirius laughed, just thinking about it. "You are so funny, Moony. I wish I had seen that."

.

Remus gave him a look that wasn't nearly reproving enough.

.

"…And Snape said Harry and Reggie were being tortured. And he slashed open my face with his Dark Magic." Sirius added.

"But he _didn't_ hurt Harry and he didn't even have Reggie." Remus reminded him.

They'd reached Spinner's End house. Snape's house was indeed cloaked by a Fidelius Charm, completely invisible.

"Well as long as Harry and Reggie didn't get hurt, that's fine then." Sirius said. Remus studied him before raising an eyebrow.

"You do know that I know you _very well_, don't you, Pads?" He pointed out. Sirius grinned at him.

"He cut right into my_ face_, Moony." He said, sadly. "And my _lips_. And nearly my _eye._ And for no reason. Just for spite…"

He grinned at Remus's expression, although he was trying really hard not to.

"…Look at my poor face, Moony!" He said, sadly. "_To the bone_, Moony... Let's cut his face up, Moony." He added, sweetly.

"Because we're like him?" Remus asked.

"No! Because it hurt! … _hurt an awful lot,_ Moony." Sirius said, mournfully. He was actually doing a good job of not laughing.

"I can't go in with you, anyway." Remus pointed out, seriously. "Not through a Fidelius Charm."

"True. But I'll flush him out into the street, if you're going to help me." Sirius pointed out, brightly.

"We're _just_ getting Lily and the wand."

"Fine. Maybe you could dock some points from Slytherin, if he slashes my face to the bone again, while I'm trying to ask him nicely?"

"He's not a Death Eater anymore." Remus warned him. "And you are going to make Lily more upset than she probably already is, Sirius."

"But we are _rescuing_ her, Moony." Sirius reminded him. "Heroically! _And don't worry about my safety will you, you git_."

"Pads, I…"

He cut Remus off, and with a scowl he swung into his animagus form.

.

The world reformed, colourless, everything towering above him; the stark monochrome images overlaid with wispy drifts of scent.

"Do take care." Remus said, taking out his wand.

.

He could smell Snape, Lily, and Harry. The Fidelius Charm had no effect on a dog and Sirius could see both the house, and the scent drifting from the doorway, strong on the touch of the handle, so he knew they were inside.

Taking a run, he jumped through the window, landing in the front room in a shower of broken glass and splintered wood.

Being a dog was so easy. He could hear and smell where they were, in the house, and scrambled back to his feet, crashing through a concealed door and up a narrow flight of stairs.

Snape's arms flew up, to cover his face, as the dog lunged at him, teeth sinking down to the bone.

Tempting though it was to maul Snape, he limited himself to the one bite, before snatching Lily's dress in his teeth and dragging her straight out of the window. Together they hurtled back through the air, in another shower of broken glass, hitting a cushion of air as Remus stopped them colliding with the ground.

.

_"Padfoot_!?" Lily screeched, falling over as the black dog released her torn dress. "_What are you doing, you idiot!?"_

"There was a Fidelius Charm." Remus informed her, shielding her face as the black dog shook a spray of glass out of its shaggy fur. "James is desperate to see you, Lily. Shall we…?"

"_We were coming to see him_!" Lily roared, trying to shake glass out of her hair. "Why have you done this!? Did you just bite Sevy!?"

"Snivels has James's wand." Sirius said, glittering with glass splinters as he reapeared. "And our Time-turner… Stay there." And he vanished again, into his canine form, bounded through the fidelius and the broken window, and shot back up the stairs.

.

"…And now he's disapparated." Sirius reappeared human, in the doorway. "I knew I should have bit him harder."

"Disapparated or _went back in time?_" Remus said, raisin his wand as he sung round, scanning the empty street.

"He's on _our side!"_ Lily cried, angrily. "_For God's sake, Sirius_!"

"_Crucio!_" Severus cried, clarifying things, somewhat.

"_Protego!"_ Sirius snarled, swinging back to Remus' side and disapparating as soon as he had hold of both of them.

.

"...He's on our side?!" Sirius scoffed, angrily, as they landed outside the cabin. "_Glad you clarified that their, for us, Lily!_"

"_You're alive, Lily!_" Remus interrupted, hugging Lily as she tried to get at Sirius to respond.

"No thanks to any of you!" Lily pointed out. "Did you bite him?!"

"That snivelling Death Eater meant Voldemort to kill your baby and your husband!" Sirius snarled. "I've seen his memories!"

"Well... we're all alive, Sirius!" Lily pointed out. "So forgive me for being less than convinced!"

"Only thanks to us." Sirius assured her, angrily. "We didn't get the wand, Moony!"

.

"…Or the Time-turner." Snape said, stepping carefully out of the trees. "And with a Time-turner, Black, you can be absolutely wherever, whenever you want."

"Your arms bleeding, Sevy." Lily said, staring at the blood dripping thickly off his torn sleeve.

"Because your rabid friend there, just bit me." Snape pointed out calmly. "But, no matter. I can heal it. We were interrupted mid-conversation, Lily. Perhaps James would like to be part of our discussion?"

"James is in there?" Lily asked, swinging at once to see the tumbledown wooden cabin.

"I believe so." Snape nodded, keeping his sharp black eyes, and the Elder Wand, on Sirius and Remus, waiting until Lily had opened the cabin door and stepped inside.

.

~o0o~

"…Well." He said, softly, black eyes glittering as he studied them. "The Werewolf and the Mutt. To clarify, Black." He added, coolly. "No, you and I are not on the same side, of anything, God forbid." He gave a purposeful shudder. "And you're not the only one who can resurrect the dead. I have a surprise for you."

.

The surprise stepped out of the trees, still in the hospital gown she had fallen through the window in, a wide smile on her handsome face. It was Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Hello dear cousin." She cooed, softly. "This is a nice surprise; for me, at least." The smile broadened, as Bellatrix enjoyed the shock on both men's faces. "I'm not dead, Sirius." She grinned, flashing wet teeth. "You should have looked out of that hospital window, before you wrote me off."

"A simple cushioning charm." Snape added, a thin smile curling the corner of his own narrow lips. "And a replacement corpse. You really are unfailingly foolish, Black."

"That's splendid. You denied me the pleasure of actually ripping your to pieces last time." Sirius pointed out, calmly. "And you rather hurt my pride, beating me in the Death Chamber duel."

"Don't get too excited, Black." Snape sneered. "Bellatrix and I have come to play with the Werewolf. The Ministry want's a little chat with you…"

Surrounding them, Unspeakables stepped out of the trees, their red and blue robes covering their faces, their wands trained on the two Marauders. "…You do understand I had '_all the time in the world'_ to arrange this, don't you, Black?" Snape said, softly. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a reunion to supervise." And he stepped past them, into the cabin.


	75. Chapter 75

"I'm disappointed." Sirius said, watching Bellatrix carefully. Neither he nor Remus were armed, but shoulder to shoulder he could feel Remus' hand discretely stealing his wand. "…I thought I'd annoyed you enough to get a one on one invitation."

"Rabastan will make short work of you." Bellatrix assured him. "And you know how I like to play with 'animals', Cousin. This disgusting creature has defiled our bloodline, with our perverted niece!"

"_Disapparte_." Sirius murmured. "_Behind me._"

"Together?" Remus whispered.

"No. One of us would get hit with the killing curse." Sirius whispered back, trying not to move his lips. "Slip me the wand and I'll shield you."

Remus didn't.

Rabastan Lestrange removed his hood, gesturing the Unspeakables closer.

With hidden faces, it was impossible to know if they were Death Eaters, as well.

"…Little cousin?" Bellatrix cooed. "Go and play with Rabastan, like nice little boys."

Sirius glanced at Rabastan, who really did want to kill him, as violently as possible.

"..._I appriciate Rabastan removing his hood_." He said softly, to Remus. "_So I know which one to bite first."_

"_Bellatrix second then_." Remus murmured calmly. "In case we don't get to a third. She would have killed you, and my wife."

"James will bring us back, anyway, as soon as he gets the Time-turner off Snivels." Sirius pointed out, confidently.

"…_Cousin_!" Bellatrix snapped, angrily. "_Look at me when I am talking to you!_"

"_Bell-a_!" Sirius mimicked, brightly. "Look behind you, love, it's Voldemort returned!" And he vanished into the bear-sized black dog, lunging at her turned face.

.

With a shriek of fury, Bellatrix vanished from under him, very nearly pulling him into the disapparition with her. Padfoot skidded round, seeing Remus's curse had knocked Rabastan off his feet, and launched himself into the prone figure, teeth scarlet and dripping as he ripped open his flesh.

.

~o0o~

.

James was cold. He'd been sitting too still, going over and over what he should do. He liked to think he was good at... well, everything really.

He had been, if he did say so himself, an exceptionally brilliant father. His son's first word had been 'Dada' and as soon he could walk, Harry would toddle enthusiastically around behind him. James liked being an ace father. Baby Harry clapped enthusiastically when James entered a room. Teenage Harry didn't even seem to _like_ him. Not being admired, sucked, but not even being _liked,_ by someone you'd created, given your life to, died for, in fact, that was really bad.

While James was good at putting a brave face on, he had no idea how to treat Harry. He was a rubbish father now. Everything had changed. Almost everything. James believed with his whole heart the most important duty a father had, was not to be popular, or to be fun, it was to keep their family safe. It broke his heart to discover that he had failed so badly to do that, first time round, and if he could do nothing else for Harry now, he meant to keep him away from the troubles the Time-turner had caused. That and maybe get a chance to prove to Harry he wasn't a total let down as a father.

.

James had only just turned his thoughts, nervously, to his wife, when she appeared in the hovel's doorway, lips quirking into a very familiar smile. "Thanks for the daring rescue, Darling." She said, sweetly.

James staggered out of the chair, falling across the room to snatch her up into his arms. "...This is nice." Lily admitted. snuggling into his chest. "I thought we were all going to die."

"You did." James pointed out, holding her tight. When he kissed the top of her head, he could smell something foreign and unplesant, that he was sure was 'Snape'. He was unsurprised when his wife's rescuer swept into the cabin a moment later, turning away from their embrace and using a locking spell on the hovel's door.

.

"Why a Silencing Charm?" Lily asked, looking over at Severus uncertainly. The cabin had become eerily quiet as the wood sealed over.

"So that we are not disturbed by your husband's feral friends." Severus said, smoothly. "I imagine you want to thank me, James."

"Have you brought my wand back?" James asked.

"It's Harry's wand." Severus said, holding it carefully in his hand. "We think it's right that he has it."

"'We' being you and my wife?" James asked. Snape blinked at him, with his unreadable black eyes.

"It should be Harry's." Lily urged, tugging slightly at his jumper. "We'll be in hiding, James. People will wonder where the wand has gone."

"The Hallows are mine." James assured Snape. "If you could return my wand, _then_ we can talk. And the Time-turner."

"It's about the Time-turner that we wanted to talk to you." Snape said. "If the Ministry destroy it, we're all dead."

"I don't intend to let that happen." James pointed out.

.

He wanted to get this over with so he could be with Lily, but he had to get the wand and Time-turner back.

Lily watching, believing Severus was wonderfully reformed, made that difficult.

"You didn't manage to stop me getting it." Severus pointed out, silkily. "Therefore you've already failed to keep it safe, once. I am not willing to risk Lily's life, or my own for that matter, on you repeating that failure."

"It's _not_ up to you." James snapped.

Severus studied him, with his cold black eyes. "I could vanish now." He said, quietly, his eyes moving just slightly to encompass Lily before he looked back at James, meaningfully. "We could vanish with the Time-turner and never be found."

"There isn't anywhere you could run, where Sirius wouldn't track you down." James assured him, hotly.

"I can handle Black." Severus sneered. "Predictable, immature, the emotional range of a schoolchild, and now you've _obliviated_ half his mind, well, I have dealt with First Years more frightening."

"You _obliviated_ Sirius' memory?" Lily asked, in surprise.

"I'll tell you everything, when we're alone." James said, letting himself for one blissful moment, touch one of her small familiar hands.

.

"We have a suggestion." Severus pressed on. "I will give Lily the Time-turner. She will put it in a place of safety, where no one can find it. You will be unable to do any more of your heroics, Potter, but I will know that Lily is alive and safe. Can you manage to agree to that?"

"Lily hides the Time-turner?" Severus nodded. James considered it, and his wife.

"What an excellent idea, Severus." He said, brightly. "You'll give the Time-turner to my wife, and the Elder Wand to my son?"

.

They smiled exceptionally false smiles at each other. Marveling at each other's stupidity.

Severus removed the wards on the hovel's door and carefully opening it a crack. The air smelt of smoke; the woodshed was burning. The trodden down grass outside was streaked wet and glossy with blood, but there was no longer a soul insight.

"…It appears your dogs have been fighting, James." He said, mildly, as he passed the Time-turner to Lily and watched her vanished. He allowed himself a genuine smile, watching James surveying the bloody grass, before disapparating, with a satisfying whip-crack.


	76. Chapter 76

**AN:Thank you for your reviews. It is so nice to read them!**

**This chapter starts with Sirius yelling. I am trying to make him sound human, rather than 'an utter wimp', or indeed an un-hurtable 'super-human'. Rabastan is supposed to be nasty. I don't usually write nasty so... *deep breath* if it's rubbish, doesn't make sense, or he is TOO nasty, do say so and I'll have a go at changing it. Thank you for reading :D **

The pain, gouging into Sirius' side, forced an inhuman cry from his bleeding lips. "Do you know, Sirius." Jumping suddenly into the blackness beneath his closed eyes, Rabastan's voice dripped with sickening triumphant. "...You don't sound remotely human, when you're… _in pain._" He buried the heated point of his wand, deeper into the torn flesh above Sirius' hip, making him yell out again.

With a snarl, Sirius tried to jerk himself away; eyes opening to a fuzzy room and Rabastan's familiar face, blurry in front of him.

Sirius spat, scarlet spray splatting against the other man's lips.

"Not looking so pretty today." Rabastan observed, wiping his mouth and hands fastidiously on a cloth, before turning back.

"_I tied your hands behind you back, Sirius_." He whispered, leaning close enough to breath over Sirius's bruised face, and stroking his bloody hair away from his ear. "…I seem to remember you were particularly bothered about that idea, weren't you?

"When you spread a dogs front legs wide enough open, Sirius, it causes their lungs to rip themselves to pieces. Dog's just aren't designed for that sort of movement. Have you ever tried that, Sirius? It's very interesting to watch. I'm rather looking forward to seeing what will happen, when you transform with your hands tied behind you like this… Except you won't transform, will you, Sirius? You will just have to sit here, nicely; at my mercy, for as long as I want.

"Unfortunately, the Werewolf doesn't have that option, does he? Because there is a full moon tonight? Do you see, I have devised a splendidly enjoyable way to kill Werewolves, Sirius? The Ministry will love it, because this way, no one actually has to do the killing. With his hands bound behind him, like yours, your friend will tear him lungs and heart to pieces, as the moon rises. It'll be exciting, Sirius. We'll go and watch. Well, you can watch. I will be watching your face." He patted Sirius' bruised cheek roughly and went across the room to get himself a glass of water, watching Sirius, as he sipped it.

.

"…He's innocent." Sirius said, finally. Rabastan smiled at him, teasing his thin waxy moustache.

"Innocent of what, Sirius?" He asked, considerately. "And do you know, I believe that is the longest I've ever seen you lost for words."

"Innocent of anything." Sirius said. "He fought for The Ministry in the war, and it was Hermione Granger who broke the Time-turner laws."

"I can bring Hermione in as well, if you want me to." Rabastan offered. "It seems likely that the Werewolf had a hand in it, but technically you're right; the Ministry have nothing on Lupin. We're going to watch his transformation into a furry corpse in private, Sirius. I let Bella take him away, for a little 'fun', before the full moon. She's awfully unhappy about that filthy animal-blood mixing with her nieces, Sirius. Very offended. I don't suppose you know where the little half-breed baby is, do you?"

He settled back in his chair, smiling as he watched Sirius, with an air of great triumph. "…You killed the Manticore, didn't you?" He added. "I realised it had smelt you in the lift. We thought you'd use one of the Unspeakables to get into the Time Chamber, not Harry Potter, himself."

"You always were stupid." Sirius pointed out, spitting blood across the carpet at him. Rabastan wrinkled his lip, distastefully.

"Where's Lupin's baby, Sirius?" He asked, softly. "Do you think Bella is 'persuasive' enough to get Lupin to tell her where his baby is? There's nothing in the world as exciting as torturing a secret out of someone who really, _really _doesn't want to share it. Do you think Lupin knows what we'll do to his baby, Sirius?"

"Why would I care?" Sirius sniffed, turning away from the other man's damp breath. Rabastan scowled, irritably, rocking back on his heels.

"You care about the Werewolf." He said.

"The Werewolf cares about _me_." Sirius pointed out, pityingly. The schoolgirl cares about me. Harry Potter cares about _me_. I don't care about anyone, Rabastan."

"…Well, you care about yourself, Sirius." Rabastan assured him, leaning heavily into Sirius' personal space again. Lifting his wand he ran it down Sirius' neck, watching him. "Do you know how long I have fantasised about having you here, like this?" He whispered, lips pressing wetly against Sirius' ear, before he bit it, grinding his teeth as hard as he could, into the skin and cartilage, and ripping his head backwards.

.

~o0o~

.

James surveyed the bloody ground in front of Remus' cabin. He hadn't heard Sirius and Remus apparate back from Snape's house, although they had clearly managed to bring Snape and Lily to him.

James was actually finding it surprisingly hard to think about anything.

_Lily was here._

How had Snape done that without destroying everything?

_Lily was here._

Where had Lily gone to hide the Time-turner?

_Lily was here._

They were all safe and alive.

Only the bloody ground in front of him, with its sickly coppery smell, suggested otherwise.

"...James?" Lily reappeared with a little pop, at the edge of the clearing. The smoke from the smouldering log-shed billowed around her, giving her a rather dreamy quality. He watched her level her wand on the flames, and shower them in water, until hissing they submitted and died. "So…" She said, smiling at him. "You're alive, Mr Potter."

"I didn't think I could save you." James admitted. "Not without putting our baby in terrible danger and destroying everything you'd sacrificed your life for."

"I shall choose to believe that." Lily informed him, an eyebrow vanished under her thick fringe (bangs), before she smiled, hugging him tightly. "…That was frightening." She admitted, snuggling against his chest. "I really thought I was going to die. I thought you'd died."

"Sirius saved me." James told her. "Or I would have died in the Living Room."

"How very thoughtful Sirius is!" Lily laughed. "If only I was blessed with such loyal friends, then I might not have been abandoned upstairs. You know out son is a teenager, don't you?"

"Yes. Raised by Tuney and The Blob."

"I'm just grateful he's alive. I brace myself every day for Voldemort to come; to watch my baby die."

"And now Voldemort has come, and Harry is saved." James assured her. "He survived and grew up. He's just a bit of an idiot!"

He laughed, when Lily's small fist hit his side. "You know I can't take you seriously, when you do your cross face, Mrs Potter." He reminded her "And it's true! Even Sirius would have raised him better than them!"

"Don't make me laugh!" Lily scoffed. "Sirius couldn't raise a puppy!"

"Your sister treated him like dirt. It's actually heartbreaking." James told her, calmly. "Everything Harry does, I can see how much they've influenced him. I feel so angry that I let that happen to my son; Let _them_ happen to him. You can deal with Tuney, if you want, but me and Sirius are dealing with The Blob… Once I find Sirius, that is. All this blood doesn't look good, does it?"

"What blood?" Lily asked, turning round to see. "_Is that red-stuff blood!_?"

"Yes." James scowled at it, thoughtfully. "I don't know what's happened, but this can't have all been from Snape's arm. He must have bitten someone else. Go and get the Time-turner, and we'll find out, and sort it all out."

Lily looked up at her husband, uncertainly, before she forced a nervous smile. "James... I've hidden it." She pointed out. "Not in a place we can get it back." James forced one of his most patient smiles.

"Lily." He said, calmly. "The ground we are standing on, is soaked with blood and I don't know where my best friend is. Please _go and get the Time-turner."_

Lily peered nervously up at him, from under her heavy fringe. "…James." She said, as calmly as she could. "_I physically can't get the Time-turner back."_


	77. Chapter 77

"…You fainted." Rabastan said, dousing him in cold water. Sirius blinked the looming figure back into focus, tugging ineffectually at his bound arms. "…I hope you feel as vulnerable as you look." Rabastan smirked. "Because you look utterly pitiful. I almost feel sorry for you, Sirius. _Almost_."

Sirius tried to pull the room back into focus, yet again. He didn't know where he was. Not in the Ministry, because there was daylight fading in a barred window. "…It's getting dark, Sirius." Rabastan said, following his gaze. "Only a couple of hours till the full moon will rise."

"I don't care." Sirius growled. His lip, torn open again, was really hurting. He'd rather die than show it, but it was surprisingly hard to be manly about torture.

Somewhere beyond the room, he heard a high eerie cry that he could almost recognise, but couldn't quite place.

"…Did she get the baby?" He muttered, blinking the swirling room back into focus.

Rabastan smiled at him.

"Lupin's baby? Why do you ask, Sirius?" He tugged his own chair closer, so their knees were touching. "Bella never seemed the _overly _maternal type, did she? What do you imagine she might do to the little half-breed whelp, Sirius? Did you ever drown puppies, Sirius? I always think of you, when I do that. And not just when I'm holding them under the water, feeling them struggling in my hand. I think about you; watching my bitch, sniffing around the house, searching for them."

"Sorry; let me get that straight." Sirius pulled his head, finding Rabastan in the room. "You own a dog, which reminds you of me, and you drown it's puppies, for the thrill of pretending you're hurting me?"

Rabastan smiled at him.

"Simple pleasures, Sirius. Didn't know how long it would be before I had you tied to a chair, for me to poke and prod, at my leisure."

"You are pathetic." Sirius sighed, irritably. "I don't like dogs. I don't like children. I like being able to turn into a dog, so I can maul people like you, for fun… Hello, Bella."

.

The door hit the wall with a bang as Bellatrix appeared in the enterance, splendid once more, in floor-length robes of blood-splattered green velvet, her pale cheeks flushed with excitement and her eyes alight with wild mania. Rabastan looked over her, rather annoyed at the interruption.

"You got the baby?" He concluded.

"No! You worthless fool! _It's him! The Dark Lord!_ I feel it!" Drawing her sleeve up she revealed her faded Dark Mark, eyes closing as she pressed it tenderly to her lips. "I feel it! I know he has survived!"

"Right." Rabastan said.

"_Right!?"_ Bellatrix screeched, her wand in her hand. "The Dark Lord has survived and you say '_right'_!?"

"Give me ten minutes alone, and I'll come." Rabastan concluded, unperturbed by his sister-in-law's outrage.

Bellatrix stared at him, panting, eyes wide in disbelieving.

.

"I must prepare, anyway." She dismissed her outrage as abruptly. "The horcrux must _still_ be in the Potter boy Unless… Unless there was another one? Could there be another one that even I did not know about?"

"Ten minutes." Rabastan said, coming to see her out of the door. "Give me ten minutes here and I'll come and help you. I've waited a long time for this." Bellatrix stopped counting something on her fingers, looking up at him, puzzled for a moment before she turned back to look down at Sirius, her lips twitching into a smile.

.

"No. Have your moonrise, Rabastan." She offered, generously. "I will enjoy that too. Oh, poor cousin, you don't look too well. Better than your wolf-friend though."

"I only need ten minutes." Rabastan assure her, looking over Sirius, hungrily. "...Fifteen, maybe."

"Have all night." Bellatrix offered, happily. "Take your time. He wants to watch the Werewolf transform with its arms bound behind it's back; don't you, cousin?"

"He doesn't care." Rabastan said, with a hint of disappointment. "He only cares about himself."

"Don't be so foolish, Rabastan." Bellatrix laughed, dropping to her knees in front of Sirius and lifting his chin with the hard tip of her wand. "Tell me where your nasty animal-friend's baby is hidden, little cousin, and _I'll let you go_." She offered, sweetly. "I'll take an unbreakable vow, on it, Sirius..." She laughed, heartily, before standing up again. "Have fun, Rabastan!" She called, and walked briskly from the room.

.

"_I'm going to kill you and let your dog eat your corpse."_ Sirius snarled. Rabastan laughed.

"My dog would rather starve than eat my corpse." He pointed out, teasing and tugging at his waxy moustache as he studied Sirius, carefully. "I kick her ribs in and she crawls back to lick my fingers." He released the moustache finally, stroking his lip as he came to stand between Sirius' legs, leering at him. "I am going to teach you what it means to be a dog, Sirius." He assured him.

.

~o0o~

"Where have they gone?" James cried, tossing another handful of floo-powder onto the fire. "_The Burrow!_"

"James?" Molly's head appeared, crouching awkwardly to appear in the flames. "Harry's here, He's upstairs with Ron. Did you want him?"

"No. Just keep him safe for me, for now." James said, feeling his wife's small hand slip into his own. "It's Sirius. Have you seen him? Or Remus, for that matter. They don't half choose inconsiderate moments to vanish."

"I haven't heard… Arthur… Arthur… _Arthur_!... Have you seen Sirius, love?"

"We'll be like that, one day." Lily whispered, absently pressing down the spiked hair at the back of her husbands head.

"…No. He hasn't been round." Molly reappeared. "Are you sure you don't want to speak to Harry?"

"Tell her, we'd like to." Lily poked him.

"No. We'll speak later." James corrected her. "I have to track down Sirius, Lily."

"Did you see how badly he bit Sevy's arm?" Lily said, frowning at the memory.

"A lot has gone on." James said, watching the last of the green powder burn away. He was trying to think where else Sirius could possibly be, but it was hard to think about anything, except that Lily was alive. _Lily was alive_. "…I wouldn't be worried, but there is _blood all over the ground outside_." He pointed out. "More blood than could have just come from Snape's arm."

"Maybe Sirius bit a lot of people." Lily suggested, tartly. "You do realise how much Sevy has done for Harry, don't you, James?"

"Don't get me started on that." James assured her, getting back to his feet. Lily scowled at him. James smiled, because she was alive and scowling. "You're alive." He breathed, putting his arms, finally around her.

"Never let me go again." Lily said, and James was sure that was the most romantic thing she had ever said to him.


	78. Chapter 78

Regulus Black tried the Colloportus reversal 'Alohomora' on the cabins locked door. Finding it as ineffective as his knocking, he smashed out Lupin's window and climbed inside.

James Potter, naked and outraged, jumped to his feet, throwing a cloak over a girl on the hearth rug and exclaiming '_Sirius!'_ before realising he had the wrong Black brother.

"Have you seen him?" Regulus asked, averting his eyes politely as James yanked on his jeans and glasses.

"I don't know where he is…" James' hair had reached new levels of craziness, and Regulus' lip curled compulsively, as he turned back to him. "And you could have knocked!" James pointed out.

"Of course I knocked, James." Regulus pointed out, managing to look both distasteful and rather prim. "Repeatedly. Unfortunately, you didn't hear. Nice to see you got over your wife, so successfully."

"That is my wife, you twit!" James snapped. "And you're lucky neither of us hexed you! Breaking in like that."

"Oh. Sorry." Regulus exclaimed, awkwardly. "About the wife comment." A thick red fringe, then Lily's green eyes and button nose, appeared, peeping out from the cloak.

"My husband and I haven't seen each other for a really long time." She explained, contritely enough to make James laugh.

"_I_ haven't seen _you_ for a really long time." He corrected. "You haven't gone twenty four hours without me, Mrs Potter."

"A very stressful twenty four hours." Lily pointed out. "Can you take your friend outside, so I can get dressed?"

"Certainly! Move, Pervy-boy!" James shoved Regulus briskly to the door, loving the combination of outrages sneer and pink cheeked embarrassment the name elicited.

~o0o~

"This is Regulus Black." James introduced them, as Lily reappeared, clothed. "Sirius' sleazy ex-Death Eater brother. Regulus, this is Lily, my _wife_. Please don't try it on with her."

"It's nice to meet you." Regulus said, sincerely. "I'm terribly sorry about everything that happened to you. I was never involved in any of that. Technically I died in 1979."

"We'd only just left school in '79'" Lily told him. "I do remember. Sirius was very upset."

"But he hid it _very _well." James offered. "Put _a very _brave face on."

"I think he'll be with the Were… Lupin." Regulus corrected. "Where does that, he, stay when he's not in this hovel?"

"I've checked with his wife, She hasn't seen him, or Sirius either. I'm sure they'll be..."

"_Remus is married_!?" Lily yelled at him. "_Are you serious!?"_

"I know." Regulus agreed.

"You don't 'know'!" James cried. "My wife is _happy_ not astounded that a human girl fell in love with a Werewolf."

"Both, to be honest." Lily pointed out. "Remus is lovely but _marriage?_ There's a lot of judgy people out there…"

"Regulus for example. Although you'll be alright. He's fine with Muggle-borns, if they're young and pretty... And other people's girlfriends." James added, helpfully. "He's especially fine with other peoples girlfriends."

"I just want to spend time with my son." Lily added.

"And your husband." James said, winking lewdly as her.

"I'm actually rather worried about Sirius" Regulus interrupted him. "Sirius is the only family I have left."

"_Thank God_." James pointed out. Regulus looked slightly stunned, which James thought was very naïve, considering most of his family had wanted James' wife and son dead.

"Yes. well I do… I understand, that you'd feel like that." Regulus agreed. "I just… I'm glad Harry's got you both back. When I said goodbye to my parents…" He stopped, completely. James was not sure why he'd even started that sentence.

"My parents were killed by the Death Eaters, when I was nineteen." Lily told him, reaching out and, much to James' genuine annoyance, put an arm around Regulus' slim shoulders. "I do understand."

"Maybe James can rescue them for you." Regulus suggested. "I lied to my parents about what I was doing. I thought I'd die but they'd be safe, but… they weren't... And I didn't even die."

"I'm sorry." Lily said. She hugged him tight, feeling the sag of his slender shoulders, the muscles contract in his slim pale throat as he swallowed hard. Firmly but gently, he moved her back and straightened up.

"You little martyr!" James said, crossly. "You were a _Death Eater_ when we were nineteen! And stop flirting with my wife! You're supposed to be worried about poor Sirius."

~o0o~

Wandless magic was a real gift, Remus concluded.

Eyes closed, he was focused entirely on the thick twine that bound his wrists, breaking it thread by thread with his candle-lighting spell. With a pleasing twang, the remaining threads broke and he stood up, rolling the stiffness out of his shoulders and rubbing and shaking the circulation back into his cold hands. Quietly he slipped silently to the door.

He could hear Bellatrix talking loudly to herself or maybe a house-elf, somewhere to his left. Checking the well-lit corridor was empty he followed it to his left.

He could feel the full moon's imminent rising, familiar and tugging, maybe more than usual at his damaged nerve-endings so recently fried by Bellatrix's Cruciatus Curse. Thank God for the woman's utter insanity. He wanted to go and kill her. Actually kill her, so he could never hear her threatening his baby again. Her sadistic fantasises crept irrepressibly back into his mind, as he didn't doubt they would forever. Until she was dead; his baby would never be safe.

.

_Teddy and Sirius._ He knew where Sirius was. He'd heard him shouting out earlier, as no doubt Sirius had heard him. Cries of pain, but mostly of anger, at least.

The door was still ajar. He'd heard Bellatrix moving up and down these passage, while he'd been burning through his bonds; listened to Rabastan's increasingly angry attempts at politeness, with each interruption.

.

He could smell blood and sweat in the room, and those smells any human could smell if they chose to admit it, anger, fear, pain, rancid excitement. He could see Rabastan Lestrange, in a mirror that hung, heavy and ornate, on the rooms near wall. The slim dark haired man was leaning over Sirius, breathing rather heavily into his face, flecks of spit hitting Sirius' curled lip as he spoke.

.

Sirius had a very split lip; one he was tearing open with his grimace. He also had a rather grazed bruise on his rigt cheekbone, that really did look like it was there more for effect than torture; unless he'd got it in the fighting in the forest.

But Rabastan had clearly wanted to keep Sirius' face intact; wanted to see who his prisoner was, as he tortured him. This meant Bellatrix that had been lying, when she'd taunted Remus with graphic descriptions of Rabastan burning Sirius's face off with a Blood Boiling Hex. He prayed that this also meant she'd been lying about what she'd done to his wife and baby.

He was reasonably certain that she hadn't hurt Teddy because, horrific as it was, he thought she would have made him watch her do it.

.

Stepping into the room he picked up a metal candle stick and belted Rabastan round the head. The Death Eater slumped against Sirius, sliding down until his face was planted in Sirius' lap.

"You took your time, Moony." Sirius said, wriggling a leg free to boot Rabastan away, onto the carpet.

"I hope that's meant to be funny." Remus assured him, using Rabastan's wand to slice through Sirius' restraints and help him to his feet.

"Yes. It was. I thought we were both going to die." Sirius assured him, watching the door as he pulled Remus into a fierce hug.

"We probably would have, if Bellatrix hadn't randomly convinced herself Voldemort's back from the dead and rushed off to…" He paused, releasing Sirius to use the wand to spin tight bandages around his bleeding waist, and to examine his bloody ear; the only two obvious injuries on him.

"Rushed off to... do her make up?" Sirius suggested, taking Remus' hand off his head and shaking his hair out to cover the damage.

"Oh, yes. And find a less blood-splattered frock to wear."

"Or a bloodier one." Sirius suggested, walking over to Rabastan and turning his head, with the toe of his boot. "What's that noise, Moony?" He added, looking up as the strange eerie cry came again.

"Peacocks." Remus said. "Or mournful inferi."

"Oh, excellent!" Sirius exclaimed, recognising it as well, now. "In that case I do know where we are. This is Malfoy's manor house."

"We need to get to somewhere we can apparate." Remus told him. "I can feel the moon rising."

"Nonsense, Moony!" Sirius assured him, squatting down to lift Rabastan's head by his thin ponytail. "Rabastan wants to watch you transform."

"There could be other wizards or witches here." Remus pointed out.

"Only Bellatrix, I think." Sirius said. "And if there is anyone else, they didn't rush to our aid. _This is for Baby Sirius, Moony."_

"Sirius," Remus asked, very calmly. "Do you think my baby's safe?"

"I'm sure he is." Sirius said, confidently. "If he wasn't... If he wasn't I'm sure they'd have been treated us to more than nasty stories.

"Now, help me get Rabastan into this chair, Moony. He quite specifically told me that he wanted to watch you transform, with his hands tied behind his back."

"_Oh my God, Sirius_!" Remus let out a burst of shocked laughter. "That is seriously dark. I am ninety nine per cent certain he wanted to watch me transform with _my_ hands behind my back... I hope you realise that that is only funny, if you don't actually do it. Otherwise you're joining the side of the sick fantasists."

"No, Moony; it's only a fantasy if I _don't_ do it." Sirius corrected him, with a grin. "And I hope you do realise that this filthy pervert was trying to, _rather revoltingly,_ assault me to death, with only a side order of halitosis-laden sweaty torture. He'd just _licked my neck_, when you bludgeoned him in the head."

"Which is disgusting." Remus agreed, calmly. "But I did do the bludgeoning, and so I am going to say _no_. No, we aren't going to tie him to a chair and make him watch the moon rise with us, because tomorrow Rabastan will be dead, but we won't be. We will have to live with our actions… Okay?"

Sirius bit his bottom lip, without noticing his teeth digging into the tear. "…_What if Bellatrix hadn't left you unsupervised?"_ He whispered, hoarsely.

"Then she would have carried on using the Curciatus Curse on me until the moon rose, and I died." Remus said. "And Rabastan would have tortured you, until he'd got everything he wanted from you, and then they would have used the Imperio Curse or Veritaserum to get Teddy's location from you, and gone to kill him. Hopefully Tonks and Mad-eye would have stopped them."

"_I want to bring him round, tied to the chair."_ Sirius repeated, firmly.

"I know you do." Remus assured him. "And so do I, Pads." He pulled Sirius firmly back against him, making him look away from the prone Death Eater. "But we aren't like them. So please," He asked, calmly, "get me away from here, and locked up somewhere safe, before the moon rises."


	79. Chapter 79

**AN:I am a bit worried you're hating this now ****:(**

**I have a pretty clear idea where this story is going (ending wise) but I am open to ideas and suggestions.**

**What is Lily like? Does she like Snape?**

**And is Hermione liking Regulus okay? (I know this annoyed a couple of people enough to PM me)**

**Do you think Sirius and Lily like each other (not romantically!?)?**

***Is it okay to kill main characters, now the Time-turner can't be retrieved?**

**CarryonToTheWinterwinds ~ Thank you for reviewing the last chapter :D ~ I'm a bit worried now that you were the only person that liked it **** but I'm glad you did.**

**Snarky64 ~ I didn't say before (and you were the only person who said about part of Voldemort's spirit jumping into Harry) but ABSOLUTELY. That last surviving piece of spirit had to go somewhere. *cookies to you* **

**BlueLuver2000 & Jane ~ Thank you for the reviews to save Sirius and Remus. :D**

**Sorry about the long 'AN' this time. And THANK YOU! to everyone who reviews. Every single review makes me happy, inspires and helps. You are ace :D**

**Ch.79. **

Sirius froze. Listening intently to voices in the passage.

" …_I'll kill yo,u like your brother, you filthy little traitor_!" Bellatrix snarled, somewhere at the end of the corridor. A very familiar boys voice, cried _'protego_!' and an explosion that sent a cloud of dust and plaster into the room, the gust swinging the door at the wall with a bang.

Rabastan groaned, rolling onto his stomach.

"_That's Reggie_!" Sirius shouted, snatching up Rabastan's wand, as a burst of green light flashed down the hallway.

"Get him… _out of here_." Remus warned, his voice suddenly twisting into a rasping canine whine.

.

"_Reggie! Get somewhere you can disapparate!_" Sirius yelled, turning to boot Rabastan in the stomach, as he tried to crawl to the door. "I'm gonna have to help Reggie! …Moony, kill this bastard for me!" He kicked the Death Eater onto the floor, one more time, and swung out into the corridor, to send a string of spells shattering the lamps along the wall. "_Full Moon, Reggie_!" He yelled, angrily. "_Bugger off, you half-wit!_"

"_Sirius!?_" Reggie yelled back, his voice rising in relief.

Between the two brothers, Bellatrix screamed in fury, sending green curses, flashing through the darkness, in both directions.

"_I'm fine_!" Sirius yelled back. "_Bugger off, Reggie!_ …_And don't flirt with anyone's girlfriends on the way out!"_

"_You arse, Siri!"_ Reggie shouted crossly back. "_I thought you were dead or something! …Will you just piss off, Bella! …Siri! Can you hear me!? Are you alright!?_"

"…_I am going to tear out your entrails and choke you to death with them!" _Bellatrix screamed, hysterically, stalking out into the hall, in her billowing velvet gown, and blowing up the doorway Sirius was standing in.

"…_Meet you back at The Burrow_!" Reggie yelled, taking out yet another chunk of wall, as he tried to hit Bellatrix.

.

Behind Sirius, Remus screamed something beyond words, falling about on the floor, and clawing at the carpet, as his body ripped itself to pieces beneath his tearing skin.

"It's alright, Moony. I'm here." Sirius assured him, kicking Rabastan in the stomach and dragging him into the broken doorway. "Moony…?

"…_That was quick_." Sirius added, almost falling over as the snarling grey wolf launched itself at him.

.

With a resounding crash, wolf and dog hit the wall. The wolf, seriously lacking Remus' intelligence, gave a yelp of surprise. Treading heavily on Sirius' injured waist it tilted its head leisurely from side to side, sniffed doubtfully at the black dog, as curses wizzed past, lighting up thr corridor in cold greens and flaming reds. Concluding this was indeed Padfoot the wolf finally gave a small yip of delight, and licking the dog's cold black nose.

.

Padfoot wiggled out from under wolf's enthusiastic tongue, and got up, shaking off dust and plaster. The Wolf, still tangled in Remus' torn shirt, had paused to growl irritably at the trailing cloth, snapping at it and shaking its head to tear the fabric loose.

.

Another explosion collapsed the remains of the wall. More of the corridor appeared through the cloud of plaster dust.

The wolf growled at the hole.

Sirius growled at the wolf, not certain if it understood the danger of the green curses still flying intermittently down the corridor.

.

Deciding the curled lips were an invitation to play, the grey wolf bowled down and jumped on his injured side again, making him yelp. Noticing the bandages, still tied tightly around the dogs torso, the wolf wrinkling it's lips from its gums and tried, unsucessfully to carefully bite them loose, before spotting Padfoot's torn ear, and pinning him to the ground again, to lick that instead.

.

In the corridor Sirius could hear Bellatrix screaming, but the wolf hadn't noticed and wouldn't let him get up. The last explosion had nearly hit the wolf's side; possibly it had deafened it, as it ignored Padfoot's repeated growls, happily biting and soaking his torn ear in wolf-lick.

.

Beside them, half buried in the fallen masonry, Rabastan groaned. The wolf didn't hear. So the explosion had definitely deafened it. Weighing up the pros and cons of Remus ever finding out, Sirius turned his head, and caught the wolf's muzzle in Padfoot's big jaws; holding its head firmly, so the bright gold eyes were looking directly at Rabastan's feebly kicking legs, poking out of the debris.

With a snarl of rage, the wolf lunged across the room. Padfoot scrambled back to his feet, and dived into the passageway, intent only on reaching Bellatrix and crunching through the fragile bones of her wand hand, before she could hit the wolf with the Killing Curse.

.

.

Recognising his animagus form, Bellatrix sent another inferno, roaring down the passage. Padfoot dived back into the room, where the wolf, bloody muzzled, was currently scrabbling at the fallen masonry with its front paws, trying to extract more of the buried Death Eater, to eat alive. He wanted to use Rabastan's wand, but couldn't because he'd get attacked by the wolf, as soon as he returned to his human form.

.

With a mighty crash, the floor above them fell into the corridor. Scrambling over the debry, Bellatrix reappeared, sending another roaring burst of fire at them. The wolf, knocked clear of its feast, tumbled across the room. Sirius dived in front of it; but the wolf, apparently favouring survival over the taste of Bellatrix's flesh, crashed through a window and howling noisily for Sirius to follow, it thundered away into the wooded grounds of Lucius's country house.

.

When Sirius caught up with the wolf, an hour later, it was wagging its fluffy tail, prancing happily around, with a, very dead, snow-white peacock clamped firmly in its jaws. Enthusiastically it shook its head, showing off and making the limp body flop about, before placing the carcase carefully on the ground and stepping away, inviting the black dog to try and steal it.

.

Sirius, who had spent the last hour sprinting back and forth ahead of the Killing Curse, to try and keep Bellatrix away from the wolf, did not really feel like playing tug'o'war with a large dead bird

But the wolf looked so happy to see Padfoot, after three years apart, that Sirius didn't really have the heart to fall over and lie slump on his side, pant heavily until the moon set.

Although Remus genuinely hated the wolf, Sirius was rather fond of it.

It was hard not to love, really; aside from the craving for human flesh, the wolf was very lovable, and Padfoot was its best, and only, friend.

Sirius dragged himself back to his feet, panting at the wolf, who wagged harder, watching him expectantly with bright yellow eyes; it's black nose almost on the floor as it bowed excitedly, trying to tempt Padfoot into attempting to steal the dead bird.

If Padfoot was capable of human laughter, he would have laughed. Instead, the black dog slunk slowly around the small clearing, making the wolf repeatedly move position to keep its eyes on him, until he deemed the wolf dizzy and over excited enough, and dived in, snatching the bird from under the wolf's nose, and running away.

With a comedically outraged snarl, the wolf dived after him, teeth snapping at his side, until Sirius utterly misjudged the solidity of a thorn bush and got the bird stuck.

Common Sense would have allowed him to let the wolf take over, at this point, but Padfoot's pride couldn't take it.

They were indeed in the middle of a, very bloody, tug of war, when James's imposing stag stepped into the clearing, stamping a brick-sized hoof in their faces, and snorting, imperiously.

Rather ashamedly, Sirius dropped the bird.

The wolf darted triumphantly away to eat it, under a bush, watching Padfoot and the stag with bright gold eyes, and wagging its tail occasionally.

.

Padfoot dropped onto the cool grass. There were white feathers stuck on his bloody muzzle, like chocolate round a biscuit-thieving child's lips. He tried to knock them off with a clumsy paw, but they were rather stuck on.

The deer watched, positively scowling as it snorted at him.

With only the sound of the wolf crunching up its kill, they waited for the moon to set.


	80. Chapter 80

"I," James informed them, with his hands on his hips, "have just spent my first night reunited with my wife, searching the country for you two!"

"We were in a life or death predicament." Sirius claimed, spitting a damp white feather into his hand and dropping it behind his back. "Are your ears alright, Moony?" Behind them Remus moaned, and curled up, covering his head with his hands. "An explosion deafened him." Sirius explained, taking James's offered coat and crouching down to wrap it around their shivering friend. "Bellatrix is here somewhere, trying to kill us."

"Bellatrix is dead." James said, crossly, yanking a bloody clump of white feathers off the back of Sirius' messy hair. "_Our first night back together_, Sirius!"

"A grown man licked my neck, James!" Sirius bristled. "One I seriously don't like! While whispering disgusting things in my bleeding ear! My ear which he had _bitten, _with his disgusting yellow teeth! And you… _Where were you, James!?_ Remus could have died! They were trying to find Teddy!"

"…Teddy." Remus groaned, trying to pull himself to his feet.

"We're finding Teddy now." Sirius promised him, yanking Remus to his feet and knocking his hands off the coats buttons to fasten them himself. With a flick of his wand, James fastened them all.

"_Our first night back together."_ He said again, crossly.

Sirius swung round, Remus finally making vague attempts to catch hold of him, before he stalked across the clearing and shoved James in the chest.

"And when I say 'licked my neck'…!" He snarled. "That is the last thing that he did! And the only thing I feel comfortable telling you! I need a bloody shower! And about ten bottles of Firewhiskey, you selfish twit!"

"_Teddy_, Sirius." Remus whined, clutching his head and shivering violently.

"_So, sorry about your reunion, James!"_ Sirius yelled at him, before snatching Remus' arm and disapparating, to bang on the front door of Remus' house.

.

"It's us, Tonks! Open the bloody door!" He yelled, angrily, hammering against the enchanted wood.

"Break it." Remus hissed, clutching the coat around himself, and biting down on his chattering teeth.

Sirius drew his wand and leveled it on the door, removing Remus' wards and hitting it with an explosion that sent shards of brick back at their faces.

A group of teenagers, who had been tittering at Remus's lack of clothing, fell backwards in fright and scrambled away.

Tonks' recently applied yellow paint, burnt off the door, but the wood remained intact.

"_Dora!"_ Sirius banged on it again. "_Dora! Moody! Open the door! ..._Take your wife's wards off." He added, pushing the wand on Remus, who held it clumsily to unlock them, before letting Sirius try again, to break the door.

And again.

And again.

The thin wail of Police Sirens drew nearer. Remus caught Sirius' arm. "If they were in there…" He rasped. Sirius let his wand arm drop.

Obviously, if they were in there, half the front garden getting blasted away would have been enough to make them open the protected door.

They disapparated back to the cabin in the woods; Sirius casting his own wards to conceal it, before helping Remus up the ladder to sleep in the hayloft.

Without pausing to rest or wash, he began the grim job of rounding up searchers, to hunt for the missing baby and his mother.

~o0o~

Teddy was laughing.

Sat on the warm hearth-rug, in front of Molly's fire, he had just discovered that a firm tug could remove any of the pretty rags the rug was made from. He had already made a very pleasing hole, and was chewing on a blue floral strip, stiffened with some long forgotten, but still sweet, food.

"Mumumumuh." He chanted, dribbling happily.

Tonks was sitting at the table, still gesticulating quite wildly as she explained just how utterly intolerable her husband was being, to someone who wasn't her mother.

Thank God, not her mother.

Her mother would love to hear this, Tonks pointed out, pausing to take another mouthful of wine.

Her mother was just waiting to tell her 'I told you so!'. Which was outrageous, because Remus was letting her down in entirely different ways than her mother had told her he would.

"...But really, Dora." Molly tried hard to cut into the rant. "It doesn't sound like it's Remus that is the trouble maker. Sirius is a loose cannon, love. It'll be his fault that Remus didn't come home."

"Didn't come home?!" Tonks laughed, hard. The baby on the hearth rug looked up at her, and changed its hair to a matching violet. "He's probably forgotten where his home is! And Sirius can stay out as late as he likes, doing what he wants! Remus has a wife and a baby! His family should be more important than his friends!"

"Yes, they should." Molly agreed, wholeheartedly. "I'm just saying…"  
"Oh, I know what you're saying!" Tonks assured her. "That it's not poor Remus's fault that he's too bloody pathetic to say no."

"What Sirius needs is a life of his own." Molly pointed out. "I've always said it. He needs a girlfriend with even more of attitude than him, to keep him in line. Please have a nice cup of tea, Dora. There's plenty more in the pot."

"This is fine." Tonks assured her, pouring another glass of wine. She grinned at Molly's expression. "Humour me, Molly." She added. "I haven't had a night out since Sirius was rescued... Or a night in, for that matter. Not _one single night when it's just been us! _Either I'm abandoned entirely or left holding the baby, so they can catch up on three years worth of '_So Moony, I've been dead and you got married and had a baby, how is that, mate? _No idea, Padfoot mate, _because I NEVER BLOODY GO HOME!"_

"Have a nice cup of tea." Molly begged her. "You'll have such a headache in the morning."

"Good!" Tonks cried. "I'd rather get a headache from wine, than from banging my head against a brick wall!"

~o0o~

"I think I'm in love, Harry." Ron stated, grinning at Harry, who had been staring at his upper-sixth NEWTS course books for hours.

"Good." Harry assured him. "You should tell her more. You really should."  
"Oh… Yeah. No. I do. I tell her all the time. Anyway. I meant... Have you ever noticed that Tonks is by far and away the coolest woman, ever?"

"Yeah." Harry said. "She's an auror. Ron, I've just realised that I don't even know what my mum did, for her job. How weird is that?"

"You can ask her, now." Ron pointed out, noticing for the first time that although the NEWTS books were on the desk, Harry was actually staring at the photo album Hagrid had given him, of his parents. "It's great." He added. "About your mum."

"Yeah." Harry nodded, looking hard at the pictures.

"...Thing is, Ron." He added, looking particularly hard at a picture of Sirius and James asleep under a tree. "Thing is… _What if she hates me?_ What if she wants me to still be a baby?"

"You could pretend!" Ron laughed. "Get a dummy and start sucking your thumb!"

Harry looked up at him, in astonishment. He forced a smile, that was actually rather genuine, watching Ron pretending to be a baby.

"Tonks is watching you." Harry said.

Ron snatch his thumb out of his mouth, falling over he swung round so fast.

Harry sniggered.

In the doorway, a soft burst of laughter shared his mirth.

He could honestly swear that he remembered that laugh; remembered it in the very core of his heart.

It was his mum.

.

"...Right. I'll just be downstairs." Ron said, helpfully.

"It's nice to meet you, Ron." Lily said, never taking her smiling green eyes off Harry, as his friend edged past.

.

"…Oh Harry." She breathed, finally. The overly familiar eyes filled with massive sparkly tears, that absolutely poured down her cheeks as she rushed across the room, holding him tightly.

.

"_I love you_." Harry sobbed, forgetting entirely that he was meant to be seventeen and the savour of the world, and clutching her with sixteen years of desperation.

.

"_I love you, Harry_!" Lilly sobbed, impressively fiercely. "I will always love you! _I don't care that you're seventeen!_ I care that you're alive, Harry! ..._I care that you're alive!_" She sobbed, squashing him to death.

Face buried against her warm skin, arms tight around her neck, cocooned in that soft familiar smell that was buried forever in his memory, Harry knew; he knew and understood _everything_.

He knew why this love was stronger than the Killing Curse.

He knew why Dumbledore had pitied Voldemort.

He knew why James had carried on asking through seven years of hexing and no's to have these arms around him.

He knew what had shaped the word 'always' on Snape's lips in the pensive memory.

He knew what it felt like, to be loved by a mother.

.

"_I'm so sorry!_" Lily sobbed, squashing him so tight it hurt. "I'm so sorry I left you! I'm so sorry you had to go through all this! I'm so sorry I wasn't better!"

"…She's even sorry your hair stands up on end." James said, smiling at them from the door way. "It's not your fault, Lily. You're a lovely mother."

"_It is my fault!_" Lily wailed, squashing the breath out of him, and making Harry laugh, as well, now; holding her in his arms, looking at his father beaming down at them. "It's all my fault. I should have looked after you better! Kept you safe from everything!"

"By which she means Sirius' atrocious god-fathering and your aunts cooking."

"_Everything_." Lily sobbed. "_Everything._ Voldemort. The Death Eaters… Your father's dodgy genes. Everything."

"I'll have you know, Mrs Potter," James grinned. "That I learned the spells to cure short-sightedness and tame wild hair, in third year. _But_, as you know, perfectly well, wild hair is ace, and always a hit with the pretty girls. And without our glasses, Harry and I, well, we just wouldn't be us."


	81. Chapter 81

"Remus," Tonks said, using a refilling charm on the empty bottle. "…is an absolute arse. He only has himself to blame for this. While I'm working, Molly, he is doing nothing. _Nothing!_ He just waits till I'm out the door, so he can go and hang out with Sirius; like silly little boys… Bloody Hecate, that wine has kicked in, Molly. You can tell I haven't had a drink since I got pregnant."

"Have a nice cup of tea." Molly said, firmly, removing the wine bottle from the table. "Have a nice diner and get some rest. I'll watch Teddy while you're at work. It'll be nice to get to know him better and by tomorrow evening you'll have put the fear of God into that silly man. They don't know what they've got, till they lose it, men; and they don't grow up unless you make them!"

"So true." Tonks agreed. "Do you mind if I pass on dinner? I think I need to lie-down. _Two nights_, Molly, without a single owl or a patrona message. I hope this scares the living daylights out of him... Molly… Where's Teddy?"

They both stared at the hearth rug in astonishment. Molly put her ladle back into the saucepan and bent to peer under the table, and then increasingly frantically, they started to search the kitchen and garden.

.

~o0o~

"Sirius?" Remus groaned, jarring against the wooden lip of the loft as he rolled over. "Pads?" He blinked, at the dim light. His mouth tasted of stale saliva and blood, and he searched the tangle of damp mattress and blankets for a drink before easing himself gingerly back onto the one misshapen pillow. It smelt like damp feathers, which reminded him, just a flickering memory, of the big feathery bird in the wolfs mouth, and a room with silent flashes of green, and Padfoot's teeth, carefully clamped around the wolf's muzzle, trying to direct it's attention to something.

"…Sirius!" He called again, his voice rough. Some bats in the rafters fluttered away from his voice, through a gap in the tiles. Remus forced himself to get up, looking through the narrow opening at the twighlit sky and the dusky forest.

Two Unspeakables, in their distinctive red and blue robes, were hovering by the burnt out woodshed. One had arms crossed about his chest, the other tapped a wand irritably against his thigh, in a way that suggested they were both very bored. Presumably Sirius had protected the cabin with wards, to conceal it from them.

There was no wand up on the loft and so, gritting his teeth, Remus eased down the ladder, and limped about the room, searching for one.

Panic surged again through him as Sirius shot out of the fireplace in a shower of green sparks and soot. "Please tell me you've found him!" He said, frantically.

"Yes, yes, hang on…" Sirius unfastened his cloak and lifted the excited baby into Remus' arms, watching them embracing for a moment before pulling the cloak off, entirely; and then his shirt. "…He was safe." He added, still watching Remus kissing the chuckling baby's face. "Dora had taken him to the Burrow." He paused in his disrobing to get Remus a chair, as he looked like he might be about to fall down, from relief and fatigue from the transformation. "…You should get some rest." Sirius added. Remus stopped kissing the baby to appraise him.

"Are you alright, Pads?" He asked, gently.

"I'm always alright." Sirius assured him. "Going to have a quiet bath, in front of the fire."

"Right. I'll try and get Teddy settled on the mattress and then I'd better make sure Dora's alright."

"She's drunk." Sirius told him, shortly. "Molly was watching Teddy. Try and get some rest with him, on the mattress." He used a wand to summon the metal bathtub, and filled it with water in front of the dying fire, before coming back to kiss Teddy's wet lips, as he reached out to be taken. "Glad Baby Sirius is alright." He said, quickly. "Now bugger off and give me five minutes to recover. Want me to carry him up, for you?"

"I want you to carry me up, for me." Remus assured him; hobbling over to the cupboard and opening a Butterbeer for Sirius. "But I'll manage. Wake me up, if you want." He added, trying not to yawn. Sirius had finished undressing while Remus had limped across the room and was lying half-submerged in the wand-heated water, eyes remaining closed as Remus slipped the beer into his hand and headed slowly back up the ladder.

.

~o0o~

"_Shit_!" Sirius yelled, diving across Remus, as Teddy toppled over the edge of the low wooden lip. With a cry of horror, both men flung themselves down the ladder, finding Teddy resting on a puff of hot air, that vanished, leaving him to plop a couple of inches onto the ground. The baby looked at their startled faces with wide eyed, before bursting out laughing.

"…First magic?" Sirius asked, when he was sure he wasn't going to have a heart attack.

"First magic." Remus agreed.

"…Great!" Sirius concluded. "You haven't sired a squib! ...I think I need a drink after that!"

"We nearly killed my son." Remus took a steadying breath, awkwardly scooping the baby into his aching arms.

"But he is much too magical, for death by bad-parenting." Sirius pointed out.

"Luckily!" Remus said. Sirius laughed.

"_So_ luckily." He agreed, still rather horrified. "Give him here then, I'll make you some tea."

"And then I must speak to Tonks." Remus pointed out.

"Definitely." Sirius agreed. "I'd have floo'd her, myself, but I used all the floo-power yesterday, and the cabin's being watched by The Ministry."

"They looked like Death Eaters, to me." Remus assured him, gratefully accepting a mug.

Sirius laughed again, holding the baby on his narrow hip, as he made toast. "How can you tell a Death Eater?" He asked, searching the cupboards for anything that might be suitable for feeding a baby.

"Toasts fine." Remus assured him. "What happened with Rabastan and Bellatrix?"

"Bella got away." Sirius said, settling at the table to cut and peel an apple, for the baby on his lap. "Not sure about Rabastan. We definitely attacked him... Hey, Moony, do you want to see something utterly amazing?"

"Always." Remus said, looking more like he wanted to drink his tea and recover quietly. "I am never too ill to see something 'utterly amazing'."

"It might not work." Sirius warned him, removing the apple from Teddy and sitting him on the floor. "Baby Sirius was on a rug, and I went to pick him up as Padfoot."

"Because that's a normal thing for you to do." Remus agreed, sarcastically.

"He knew it was me. I was watching him and listening to the women bitching." Sirius turned back to Teddy, catching his eyes and holding his gaze as he crouched down in front of him, peering intently at the baby; who's eyes immediately turned to a sparkling silver, to match Sirius'.

In a flurry of black, Sirius vanished into his animagus form, still nose to nose with Teddy. The baby clapped his chubby hands and screeched excitedly, as if this was the funniest trick ever, before straining like he wanted to fill his nappy, and producing a little black button nose. A moment later he sprouted furry black ears, a perfect copy of the excitedly barking dogs.

.

"Look! My godson is the most adorable thing, _ever!_" Sirius cried, reappearing and scooping the dog-eared baby up into his arm. "Look, Moony! Look at his nose! This is the cutest thing in the history of the world ever!"

"Yes it is." Remus agreed, trying not to smile. "And my wife is going to _personally kill you._ Do you think he could actually turn into a puppy, Pads?"

"I don't know." Sirius said, examining one of the ears, peeping through Teddy's baby curls. This apparently tickled as the baby gave another screech of laughter, shaking his head. "…Maybe he can only do noses and ears. Can Dora change into a dog, or does she just do noses and the likes?"

"Do you know, I don't think that conversation has ever come up." Remus said, mildly. "I can't imagine any context that asking her to do that, might work in."

"I bet you have." Sirius said, wrinkling his nose in distaste, before poking Teddy's puppy-nose and making him roar with laughter again. Clumsily, Teddy poked Sirius back, grabbing bits of his face and laughing, hard.

"He is like the cure for everything bad in the world." Sirius said, kissing Teddy on the nose. "I want to eat him, he's so lovely!" He laughed, before pausing and looking cautiously across the table, again. "So, you don't remember anything from last night, do you, Moons?" He queried, casually.

"No Wolfsbane." Remus pointed out, sadly. "I vaguely remember a dead bird. And like you said, my ears were ringing from the explosion. I remember you were there. And a dead bird. A white one I think."

"One of Lucius's perfect white peacocks." Sirius said. "Why don't you sleep off the full moon and I'll see if I can teach Baby Sirius to turn into Baby Padfoot."

"I find that idea vaguely disturbing." Remus assured him. "But if it means I get to sleep, then yes, why not. Just don't let him fall off anything, again."


	82. Chapter 82

**AN: Is it sad that I am so incredibly excited that I have 300 reviews? 300! Agh! *so excited and astonished* and wow! O . O! Thank YOU! Thank you for reviewing this. They made me so shamelessly happy - I am shameless :P but very very happy. :D  
**

**Molotov; thank you for all your reviews but this one "I loved this chapter but I gotta say, as a mother, I would kill them." made me laugh. I tried to contrast Sirius's 'I stole a baby and I'm not even sorry' attitude with Lily's love of Harry in the chapter before. I'm not sure there are any crimes worse than stealing a baby, but I hope I have conveyed Sirius' reasons, kept him in character, and haven't left you hating him?**

**Now. Ch. 82...**

Sirius had a problem. He actually had _lots _of problems; like Bella reincarnated, the Ministry wanting to kill him by destroying the Timeturner, and Rabastan's Unspeakables wanting his blood.

His new problem was _essentially_ a funny problem. Only it was also not. Because this was the sort of problem, he was going to get beaten to death for.

Holding a very fluffy black puppy, that had once been Teddy Lupin, up to his own human face, he ordered it, yet again, to turn back into a human baby.

The puppy licked his nose and wagged its stumpy tail enthusiastically.

Sirius groaned, putting it back on the floor and watching it stumbling around in crazy circles. The problem, he was sure, was the running round. Teddy couldn't even crawl properly, so no wonder he preferred being a puppy. Sirius often preferred being a dog.

"Please, Teddy." He whined; glancing at the loft where Remus whimpered faintly in his sleep. Sirius knew he'd deny he was in pain when he woke; in between crying for his lost son and murdering Sirius for this.

"…Please, Teddy." He begged, again. "Your daddy will turn into a crazy wolf and rip me to little pieces, if you don't change back... And I'll give you chocolate and Butterbeer... And money." He watched the puppy tripping about, racking his brain for a reason it was better to be human… A reason it was better to be a human _child._ But nothing was springing to mind.

.

With a sudden crackle the fire flared green and Sirius snatched the puppy into his arms, leveling his wand on the flames, ready for murder.

His brother, Regulus, staggered into view, straightening up and fussily brushing soot off his green robe-cuffs.

"Wow. You look creepily like Father." Sirius observed, tossing his wand on the table and passing Regulus a Butterbeer.

"You're alive then." Regulus said, sitting opposite him. "Thanks for meeting me at the Burrow, Siri."

"I though that was just an excuse for you to hang around Hermione." Sirius smirked.

"I've been with Flora, actually." Regulus told him, with a sigh. "They've lost Dora's baby at The Burrow. They're pulling the place apart looking for him."

"Good." Sirius said. Regulus raised an eyebrow at him.

"You don't seem very worried." He pointed out. "The wards keep strangers out, and Flora would know if any of that lot had taken him, I'm certain."

"Good." Sirius said. "I wouldn't want them to be _too_ worried."

"They're _very_ worried." Regulus assured him. "...Where's the baby, Siri?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sirius grinned. "So, you're marrying a Death Eater, are you? Mother would be so proud."

"There are no Death Eaters anymore." Regulus reminded him. "Thanks partially to me. I'm still not sure that you did _anything_ in the fight against Voldemort, except fall through a curtain and making everyone cry. Where's your Werewolf friend?"

"I'll make you cry." Sirius told him, tartly. Regulus laughed.

"I rushed over here because I thought he might want to know Bellatrix didn't have his baby."

"And Flora could tell you that, could she? She sounds lovely, Reggie. When do I get to meet her?"

"She's not lovely. She's bloody terrifying." Regulus assured him. "But yes, she does know none of them have the baby. I've told Dora. They're certain he's somewhere in the house. You should tell them he's safe."

"I will. This evening." Sirius said, calmly. "That should be long enough to 'put the fear of God' into them, I imagine."

"This is why people hate you, Sirius." Regulus informed him. "Did you take him, or are you covering for the Werewolf?"

"Remus is Teddy's father." Sirius pointed out. "Tell them he's safe, if you want. I don't care."

"Good. I will. Did you steal that puppy as well?"

"No." Sirius adjusted the sleepy ball of black fluff, now flopped against his shoulder in a reassuringly 'Teddy-ish' manner. "Go and ask your terrifying girlfriend if Rabastan is dead, and if he's not, where I can find him."

"Okay." Regulus agreed, looking at the puppy, again. It yawned sleepily. "…And I'm telling Dora her baby's safe and well, first, so find the Werewolf and tell him to get the baby back to its mother."

"I will. _This evening_." Sirius said, yawning himself now. "Tonks would be at work normally, at this time. Being with me and Remus is Teddy's normal routine."

"This is why people hate you." Regulus said again. But he took a pinch of floo-powder from his pocket and vanished over to the Burrow.

.

Sirius picked up his wand again and put wards over the fireplace, to block it, before pacing the room, slowly.

"Please change back." He begged, patting the floppy creature, which was definitely more baby-shaped again, as he paced back and forth. "Please, please, and I will never try to teach you anything clever ever again. I will probably never be allowed to teach you anything again. I'll probably never be allowed to see you again…"

.

"_Moony!_" Wide silver eyes were peering down into Remus' face as he blinked awake, squashing back into the sole damp pillow, in an attempt to bring close-up Sirius into focus.

"Ah. Lovely." He said, unconvincingly. "You woke me up."

"Yes, I did. Teddy's fine. Look!" He'd laid the sleeping baby carefully down on the mattress next to his father again.

"Good." Remus agreed. "But it would be nice if that didn't sound like I should be pleasantly surprised... Pads, I can hardly keep my eyes open. Can you watch he doesn't fall off? I know you've had no sleep either."

"I'm fine." Sirius dismissed it, briskly. "Not tired, Remus. Remus, _no matter what happens_, you won't ever let anyone stop me seeing Teddy, will you? Because I love him. I love him and I haven't got anything else in the world to love, like I love him."

"By 'anyone' we're talking 'my wife', I assume... Unless you've managed to outrage the entire wizarding world while I've had my eyes closed?"

"I'm serious." Sirius said, without a trace of irony.

"You're…" Remus stared at him, at a loss. Sirius blinked anxiously at him, so close that black hair tickled Remus' face. "…Yes, you are." He agreed. "You're Sirius. _And you're alive."_ Knocking him off balance he yanked Sirius down against him. "I still can't believe it worked." He admitted, holding Sirius tightly and ignoring a bark of laughter. "I can't believe you're alive." He whispered.

"And James." Sirius said.

Remus stifled a laugh that was dangerously close to a sob. "And no." He swore. "No matter what. Teddy loves you. He loves you so much, Sirius. Of course I wouldn't let that happen."

"Good... And his name is 'Baby Sirius'." Sirius reminded him. "And I'm seriously about to fall on top of him, if you don't let me get my balance."

.

~o0o~

It took the combined skill of Moody, Tonks and James (with the recently returned Elder Wand), to destroy Sirius' block on the floo. All three Aurors were flung into the hovel, with an almighty crash.

Lily, Harry and half a dozen Weasley's packed in tightly behind them.

.

"_I am actually going to kill you!"_ Tonks screamed, her voice shaking between hysterics and terror, as she staggered back to her feet.

.

"...Sirius!?" Remus's eyes snapped open. "Why is Tonks actually going to kill you?

"She might mean you." Sirius offered. Hiding the baby, which had just warped back into a puppy, he wiggled to the edge of the mattress.

"Right…Very bad things are about to happen." He whispered, quickly. "I think you should try to get just Tonks here, so that Teddy isn't frightened. Teddy, please please… Oh, _thank God!_" He added, with a sudden bark of laughter, as the baby reappeared, giggling against his chest.

Remus rubbed the dark shadows under his eyes and took the baby carefully out of Sirius' arms.

.

"I'm sorry, Moony." Sirius told him.

Remus nodded, forced a smile.

"…Gonna go down and try and get Tonks to come up on her own." Sirius added.

Swallowing uneasily, he returned Teddy's sparkling smile. The baby's cheeks were very pink from sleeping curled between them. Sirius looked at Remus as well, stroking the baby's slightly sweaty black hair.

The last of the evening sun was filtering through the dusty rafters, and Sirius absorbed it all, frightened now of when he might next see either of them.

And then he climbed down into the packed room.


	83. Chapter 83

"_I am actually going to kill you_." Tonks snarled, teeth clenched as she slammed past him, climbing quickly up the ladder. Sirius watched her go, before turning back to the impressively angry audience.

"Did it work?" He asked Molly, with a charming smile. "Did that 'put the fear of God' in you?"

Distaining to answer, Molly took hold of her children and herded them back to the fireplace, emptying the room until only the Potters and Mad-eye remained.

.

Sirius looked at James, who had probably spent most of his second night after being reunited with his wife, searching for a supposedly lost baby. Behind his glasses James quirked an eyebrow, just slightly, suggesting he, at least, wasn't dangerously livid.

And then Lily hit him with a stinging hex.

"_You took her baby! You complete bastard!_" She screamed, trying to hit him again, as he snatched his wand off the table. "_Do you have any idea how frightened we've been!_"

And she chasing him round the table.

"Everyone's been crying." Harry added, quietly.

"Well, it was there idea!" Sirius shouted back at her, ducking a curse. "Control your wife, Prongs! Or I'm going to hex her back! …Molly and Tonks wanted to hide Teddy! They were laughing about 'putting the fear of God' in Remus, how funny it was that they'd 'scaring the living day lights out of him'! They were the ones who thought it would be funny! Moony had just spent the evening tied to a chair, listened to Death Eaters trying to decide the best way to mutilate his baby!"

"_Nothing you say is going to justify what you have just done! You utter bastard!_" Lily screamed at him. "_How could you take someone's baby!?_ _How could you even do that!?_"

"Seriously, Prongs!" Sirius warned James, clutching his hand as another of Lily's hexes hit its mark. "He's Moony's baby too. Stop her now, or I will."

"You deserve it, Padfoot." James assured him. "What were you thinking? And you knew Bellatrix was back and after him."

"Bellatrix is back because your crazy-witch of a wife's best friend brought her back, _to kill me!"_ Sirius snarled. He staggered backwards, clutching his eyes, as another Stinking Hex hit him in the face.

"You speak about my wife like that, Sirius, and _I_ will hex you." James assured him, stepping between them, as Lily shoved her wand into Sirius's covered face. "That is enough now, Lily." He added, firmly. "It was a stupid thing to do, but we're all safe and well now." Lily ignored him, lashing into Sirius with a string of stinging and biting hexes.

"_I am serious, Prongs_!" Sirius exploded, snatching Lily round the waist, and yanking the wand out of her hand. "I had enough of this rubbish from my bitch of a mother!" Shoving Lily back at James, he snapped her wand in half and threw it across the room.

"_You bastard!"_ Lily screamed hysterically. "Sevy gave me that wand!" Sirius gave a surprised bark of laughter.

"Double the satisfaction then!" He exclaimed, furiously, rubbing at the stinging skin on his already grazed cheek.

"You stole her _baby!"_ Lily screeched, trying to jerk free of James' grip.

"_I know_!" Sirius laughed. "And I snapped your special Sevy Wand too!"

"_Sirius!_" James exploded.

"You - S_tole - Her - Baby!_" Lily screamed at him, stamping on James' foot and lunged at Sirius again. James caught her firmly round the waist.

Panting and pink cheeked she knocked her husband's hand away, brushing her sweaty fringe off her forehead.

~o0o~

"…_What!?"_ Lily demanded, panting angrily.

~o0o~

Sirius stared at her. He'd closed his mouth, now, but there was no expression on his face; nothing but total shock.

~o0o~

"What?" Lily demanded again, staring back at him, confused now.

Harry, who was still standing beside his dad, looked at Sirius uneasily.

It was an astonishing expression. Sirius; whole face was completely blank.

Finally he tore his eyes off Lily, to find James, who stared right back at him, tightening his grip on Lily, clutching her tight against his chest.

.

"_What has he done?_" Sirius whispered.

"Sirius?" Harry asked.

He had never, in his entire life, heard Sirius whisper anything. "What's happened? The… The Elder Wand can fix broken wands. If that's… what's wrong, Sirius?"

"Sirius, I don't know what to do." James told him, calmly. "Yet. I just… I just need time to find out what to do."

"About what!?" Harry demanded. "Mum? Sirius, what are you talking about?""

"Yes. What's happened?" Lily repeated, frowning uncertainly at Sirius' weird wide-eyed gaze.

Sirius looked again at James, and again back at Lily.

The room had grown so still that Harry jumped when Sirius finally moved; crossing to them and pulling Lily tight against his own chest.

"_It's nothing."_ He said, rather huskily. "_I'm sorry I broke your wand. I love you, Lily. You know I do."_

"You _terrified_ Dora." Lily said, trying to recover her momentum, wrong-footed by Sirius' reaction.

"I know. I'm sorry." Sirius said, looking firmly down into her green eyes.

He forced a smile to pull up the corners of his lips.

Carefully he straightened her fringe and the loose strands that fell around her face. "_It's nothing_." He said again, pressing a rather fierce kiss against her cheek.

"Steady on there, Pads!" James laughed, snapped back to life, as well. "Have you been taking lessons from your sleazy brother?"

"I taught Reggie everything he knows." Sirius said, letting James wrap his wife tightly back into his arms. He retrieved the two pieces of Lily's wand, and James let Harry show him how to fix it, although even Harry suspected his father new perfectly well and was just trying to be nice.

.

Behind them Tonks, and then Remus, climbed down the loft ladder.

Harry had slightly forgotten they were there.

Teddy, who everyone had ripped The Burrow to pieces in search of, was nestled safely in his mother's arms. Remus looked shadowy eyed, and as expressionless, as Sirius had been moments before. Lily and James stepped back to give them access to the fire.

"Everything sorted, Tonks?" Mad-eye asked, briskly. Tonks gave a nod, lips pressed into a pencil thin line.

"Moony?" Sirius asked, quietly. For a moment the gold eyes flicked up, to meet his gaze, but Remus carried on over to the fire. Teddy gave a meaningless babble of random sounds, reaching out for Sirius, as Tonks crossed the room. Wordlessly she passed the baby over to her old mentor, before walking up to Sirius and belting him round the face, as hard as she could. Sirius opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Good Night, Tonks." He said, with a smirk. Tonks took her baby off Mad-eye and, still silently, they went over to the fire place.

"James. We need to talk. "Mad-eye growled, finally. "My office. Tonight."

"Right." James said. He waited until The Lupins, and Mad-eye, had been swallowed up in green flames, before turning back to Sirius. "You know girls pay good money for blusher like that, Pads?" He said, brightly.

"I could do the other cheek, if you wanted." Lily offered. "You deserved that, Sirius Black, and more beside."

"You're all very mean to me." Sirius complained, with a reasonably convincing smile.

"Stealing babies is hard work." James said, easily. "And sleeping all day, that must have really knackered you out, Pads."

"Are you going to tell us what's wrong." Harry interrupted. "_What is wrong, Dad?_"

"Nothing's wrong." James said, firmly. "We're all just tired. Can Lily stay here, with you, while I speak to Mad-eye?"  
"What do you need to talk about?" Harry asked.

"I want to know." Lily agreed, frowning at him as well.

"Do you know, you really do have exactly the same eyes." James said, peering at them both. "And the same 'cross-face'."

"We both want to know what's going on." Lily warned him. "I'm serious, James. What is it? What's happened?"

"It's nothing." James said, firmly. "Like Sirius said. Nothing's wrong. Now let me get this over with, I don't want to be talking to Mad-eye all night. I really want five minutes with you, without anyone getting themselves captured by Death Eaters or stealing any babies. Stay here, be good. I'll be a couple of minutes." And he followed the Lupins into the floo network.

~o0o~

"Well?" Lily demanded, turning on Sirius at once. "You remembered something, when you were arguing with me. I saw the look on your face, Sirius. You looked like someone had stolen _your_ baby."

"To be honest, I feel a bit like someone has." Sirius told her, calmly. "I love Teddy. I know it was a stupid thing to do. Being tied to a chair and tortured obviously upset me more than I thought."

"Tied to a chair, when?" Harry asked, in alarm.

"He's trying to distract you." Lily assured him. "Sirius, you need to tell us what Mad-eye and James are talking about. What did you remember when you looked in my eyes?"

"Nothing." Sirius said. "Rabastan dragged me and Remus off to Malfoy's country house, Harry."

"_He did what!?_" Harry demanded.

"Your friend Snape brought Bellatrix…"

"_Sirius!"_ Lily warned him. "_Tell me, now!_"

"He is telling us, Mum." Harry assured her, gently. _He wanted to hold her and never let her go._

_He wanted to look into her familiar, slightly anxious, green eyes._

_He wanted to close his own eyes and rest against her lovely soft red hair._

Lily reached across and squeezed his hand, with her own lovely warm hand, and then she pushed her fringe out of her eyes, with a rather sleepy sigh.

.

As her hand dropped away, Harry saw it.

He saw it, unmistakably.

Just like his own, hidden by Lily's thick fringe, was a lightning bolt scar.

And for just a moment, he only looked at it, in surprise, without realising what it meant.

And then he knew.

The last shard of Voldemort's splintered soul, had imbedded itself in his mum.

And the whole world felt like it was collapsing around him.


	84. Chapter 84

"Harry?" Lily wet her lips, fearfully, before putting her small warm hand back in his. Harry peeled his eyes off the half hidden scar and stared at their hands, as if he had yet to realise how tiny hers was in his own; or how fragile the little bones beneath her pale skin were, compared to his.

He looked back at her forehead, focused above the green eyes that stared back at him, in alarm. "_Harry, what is it?_" She demanded.

"It's nothing." Sirius interrupted. "We're all just shattered. I was telling Harry; Bellatrix wanted to torture Teddy's whereabouts out of Remus. He wouldn't say. She tortured him for hours…"

"Right." Harry said, taking a deep breath and looking firmly at Sirius' pale face. The handprint, though faded, was still marking his cheek. "Yes. Go on, Sirius." He said, calmly. "Bellatrix was torturing Remus."

"Yes. Bellatrix is alive. Snape saved her; so she could kill me, I think." Sirius said. Harry nodded.

He heard what Sirius was saying, but it felt like the words were bouncing off fierce walls, that had shut off the feeling part of his brain.

Despite this he was still thinking perfectly clearly, and he was sure that Sirius felt the same. He would probably never _ever_ have shared this story, if he didn't intend to make them focus on anything but that scar; anything but the fact that a piece of Voldemort was alive, a living parasite inside Lily's head.

.

They all jumped as the fire again flared green. "I want to know what's going on, right now, James…" Lily started, trailing of as she realised it was actually Remus stepping out of the fire.

Sirius stood up at once. "Moony, I am so sorry." He said, at once.

"I know. I can tell." Remus assured him. "Where's James? Are you all alright?"

"Totally." Sirius said, equally quickly. "Come outside. We'll talk about Teddy."

"There are Death Eaters out there." Remus reminded him, uncertainly.

"Unspeakables." Sirius corrected. "We'll stun them." And he whisked Remus outside.

Harry looked back at Lily, trying not to look at her fringe, trying not to look for the scar. He didn't know what to say at all, and Lily didn't try and force him to talk, like she had with James and Sirius. They lapsed into an awful silence.

~o0o~

James' hands were shaking.

James never shook.

He never felt so sick that his stomach churned; or so sad that his heart ached in his chest.

James, he reminded himself, was a genius, a criminal mastermind, a Marauder, the only Marauder with any sense, no less.

.

They were sitting in the Auror office, presumably because Tonks was laying into Remus, in Moodys' old house.

This was Tonks' office now. There was a picture of her with Remus on the desk, and one of Teddy, a lot younger than he was now, with bright blue hair. But it had been Moody's office, when he had trained James. Then he hadn't yet had the mad-eye. He had been strong and enthusiastic, and everyone had called him Moody, without a trace of irony.

.

"I understand why you didn't tell anyone." Moody said, gruffly. "But that isn't Lily, James. That is Voldemort."

"No! That is Lily!" James cried, in alarm. "A fragment of… a piece of Voldemort has tried to attach itself to her mind. That's all. I can get it out. I have the Elder Wand. There's nothing I can't do. I just need time."

"You know how many of our friends, our families, died." Moody said. "And the men and women who fought and died alongside us in the Order to defeat him, James."

"I've already brought a lot of those dead people back." James pointed out. "And I can bring others back. I can sort it out. I just need to think what to do."

"That is the last surviving piece of Voldemort." Moody said firmly, his voice loosing emotion as James' thickened with it. "She's a Horcrux. She is all Voldemort needs to return; for the cycle of murder and torture to start up again.

"Your loved ones and mine didn't die for you to be a coward about this now, James. You have to be a man. You are an Auror and a father and she, she is _the last surviving Horcrux._ That can't be allowed to survive. You must go and do what you have to do; unless you want the Aurors to do it for you. Do you understand me?

"…_Do you understand me, James?_"

.

"Yes." James said, finally. "_I do_."


	85. Chapter 85

Remus listened, in shocked silence, as Sirius explained everything.

He didn't ask whether Sirius needed him to stay, or if he thought there was anything they could do. They both knew how to destroy a Horcrux.

A Horcrux was destroyed when the vessel it was in, or the person, was destroyed.

Dumbledore had believed that the last piece of Voldemort's soul had imbedded itself in Harry. It was meant to be destroyed by Voldemort killing him at the Battle of Hogwarts. But it hadn't worked, presumably because Snape had caused the soul fragment to jump into Lily, not Harry.

They hadn't known. James hadn't allowed Harry to die, choosing to kill Voldemort himself, and that had worked, perfectly. Voldemort had been destroyed and no part of him had lived on in Harry.

Now they knew why.

The last part of Voldemort's soul hadn't been in Harry. Because of what Snape had done, it had wormed its way inside Lily's head, and as either of them understood it, that was a death sentence, at best.

At worst, Lily herself could be used to bring Voldemort back.

They had both heard Bellatrix telling Rabastan that she knew the Dark Lord still lived in some form; if they got hold of Lily, the consequences would be horrific.

.

"…We did have to kill Bellatrix, anyway." Sirius said, abruptly.

"Yes. And Rabastan. And if we can get Lily some place…" Remus began earnestly enough, although he trailed off, staring pale faced at the little cabin hidden in the trees. "…Some place safe." He said, unconvincingly.

"Till when?" Sirius snapped. "What do we actually do?" But it was a pointless question and Remus didn't humour it with an answer. Together they headed back inside.

.

"Well?" Lily demanded at once. Sirius blinked at her.

"Well." He said. "Remus hit the one of the left and I hit the one on the right. We've always done it that way, ever since a very bad incident in third year, when we both hit James with a scougify..."

"Be quiet, Sirius! What happened with Teddy, Remus?" Lily interrupted him. "And why have you come back? Do you want me to talk to Dora? She's was angry because she was frightened. We all were."

"I am going back now. I just needed to speak to James first. She's angry because Sirius 'put the fear of God' in her."

"He's talking to Moody." Lily said, glancing between them. "Has Sirius told you what they're talking about?"

"No. We were talking about Teddy." Remus said. "What happened to Severus, Lily, and how did James get the Elder Wand back?"

"Sevy gave the wand straight back." Lily said, at once. "And the time-turner. He only took them because he wanted to help me. He gave the wand back to Harry, but James needed it to destroy the block that _you_ put in the floo network. James is its master."

"So I gave it back to him." Harry added. "To open the floo network."

"Thanks, Harry." Sirius said, unable to summon up much of a scowl, under the circumstances.

.

They waited, mostly in silence, until James reappeared, sweeping out of the fire with the Elder Wand still in his hand. He looked pale and strangely more like Harry, with anxiety tightening every muscle in his face.

His eyes traveled over the room, before settling on Remus.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, calmly, as soon as he was clear of the flames. "Is this what you did when your wife was pregnant, as well? Why aren't you on your knees, begging for forgiveness? Do you have any idea what you put Dora through today? You used to feel blessed to have friends like us. Now you have a beautiful, adoring young wife, who'd do anything for you, and you are treating her… disgustingly. Go home, please, before I really lose my temper."

"I wanted to make sure you were alright." Remus told him, utterly calmly.

"It's hard to be alright, when I have to look at you treating your wife with such disrespect."

"I'm going home, now." Remus interrupted him. "So, there's nothing I can do?"

"What could you possibly do?" James demanded, icily. "Please, go home." He watched Remus throw floo powder into the fire and vanish. It was a brief meaningless distraction from what he had to do.

.

For a moment James merely closed his eyes, vanishing the room to total calm darkness. Eventually he opened them again. Harry and Lily were sitting at the table; Harry, teenage and horrified, Lily, oblivious. Sirius was still standing by the door.

"Sirius." He said, clearing his throat. "Will you take Harry outside, so I can talk to my wife, please."

.

And so Harry was ushered outside, Sirius tall and silent, beside him, so that James could tell Lily the horrific truth of her rescue from death.

It was dark outside now. Harry could see the two Unspeakables slumped where Sirius and Remus had stunned them. The breeze was cold on his face.

He had no idea what to say, or do. He felt like the world had shattered. He thought about going to see Ginny, or maybe Ron and Hermione. Even Molly. But the thought of going anywhere away from his mum, now, was infinitely worse than standing in silence, outside the cabin, staring at the trees and shivering.

"You're really quiet, Sirius." He said, slightly accusingly. Harry didn't expect Sirius to make everything better. He'd never felt so grown up in his life, but he'd still like his Godfather to try.

"I know." Sirius assured him. "I'm just thinking. Because this is so serious, Harry. I don't want to miss a single thing that might help. Your father is brilliant, and with the Elder Wand and the Time-turner, there isn't much he can't do."

"But my mum can't get the Time-turner. Tonks wanted her to use it to go back and stop you taking Teddy. She really can't get it."

"Well, James may have to get it." Sirius pointed out, quietly. "There's nothing he won't do. And you, Harry. And me. Lily is surrounded by people who will fight to keep her safe."

"She's a _Horcrux."_ Harry said, rather frantically. "Voldemort is alive, surviving for as long as she does." Sirius only nodded, his eyes catching on the crumpled blue and red satin of one of the Unspeakable's robes. Harry followed his line of vision. The hood was knocked away slightly and they could see curly blond hair. He looked young.

.  
"…Where is the other one?" He asked, looking back at Sirius, and then fumbling frantically for his wand.

"_He'll have gone._" Sirius assured him, yanking Harry back to the cabin. "James!" He yelled, drawing his own wand. "James! I'm sorry, we have to move now! One of the Unspeakables has disapparated!" He banged on the door, before pulling Harry inside and staring, in astonishment, around the empty room.

"Where are they!?" Harry cried, turning full circle. "What's happened?"

"I have no idea." Sirius said, equally astonished. "They've gone."


	86. Chapter 86

**AN: Sorry about the massive gap in posting. I had no internet and then my computer was playing up and when I tried to write again it was all messy and everything sounded wrong :( But here it is, hope it's okay. It didn't feel quite right to me, but I wanted to get it posted, to get the story going again.**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing :D**

**~AshNox**

Harry and Sirius were equally astonished, that James had vanished. Harry, shocked and sickened, stared at Sirius with wide emerald eyes. Sirius looked gobsmacked.

"_They've gone_." Harry repeated him, in horrified disbelief. Sirius didn't say anything at all, eyes sweeping the single room hovel, again, before he burst out laughing, and laughing.

.

Harry had never felt further from laughing in his entire life. "My mum is a horcrux!" He cried, boggling at Sirius. "A horcrux! And my dad has taken her somewhere."

"Of course he's taken her somewhere!" Sirius said, trying hard to stop laughing. "Of course, Harry. Your dad has always taken Lily's safety very seriously."

"Yes, but." Harry said. He couldn't see what Sirius possibly found humorous about this. "But Sirius," he said, tensely. "Sirius… He didn't tell us where they were going. He didn't… _He didn't take us with them_."

.

Sirius stopped laughing and managed to look reasonably sympathetic as he slung an arm around Harry's shoulder. "Of course he didn't," he agreed. "It doesn't take the three of us to hide one woman, Harry, does it?"

"I suppose not," Harry said, "But…"

"But nothing, Harry," Sirius assured him. "We have to find a way to get that Horcrux out of your mother, as soon as possible. It'll be easier for you to make inquiries, Harry, because The Ministry are already hunting for me. I'll go to Remus', tonight. You go to The Burrow."

"The Burrow?" Harry said, his voice vanishing in a swirl as Sirius apparated, carrying him side-long to the Weasley's front door. "...Right." Harry said, catching hold of the fence. "And you're going to…? Right. Well, you'd better come back here, if you're not welcome there, because Tonks is really angry with you. With good reason, Sirius."

"Don't worry about me." Sirius dismissed it. "You focus on finding information on the horcrux." And he vanished back into the ether. For a moment Harry wondered if Sirius had actually gone to Remus and Tonks' house, and if Tonks might actually try to murder him; and then he hurried down the path, to The Burrow.

The door was answered by Ginny. For a few glorious moments the chaos receded, until there was nothing but them, in each others arms, lips pressed together. And then Hermione actually began tugging frantically at his arm, and talking urgently to him.

Ginny, who'd tightened her grip on him, in response to Hermione's shameless badgering, pulled back from the kiss with a 'pop' and a scowl, as her mother rushed outside, as well.

Ron was at the joke shop, with Fred and George and so Harry told a horrified Ginny, Hermione, Molly and Arthur, about the part of Voldemort's soul, lodging itself in Lily's brain, and how his dad had taken her into hiding.

~o0o~

Sirius, who was well aware how angry Tonks was, took on the form of Padfoot and sat in Remus' backyard, whining, high-pitched and impatient, until the door opened and Remus appeared in a rectangle of light, a half-filled binbag in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" He asked quietly; slowly putting the bag into a bin.

"Prongs has done a runner with Lily." Sirius reappeared, sat on the ground, buried in shadows. "I don't suppose your good lady wife has gone to bed yet, has she?"

"No." Remus said, shortly, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "No, Sirius, she hasn't. We are currently mid-discussion over the viability of our marriage, and my inability to see what a manipulative, baby-stealing bastard you are."

"You give her hell, Moony!" Sirius said, brightly.

Remus stared at him for a moment, before repressing a snort of shocked laughter.

"You really need to bugger off, somewhere else, Pads." He said. "Shouldn't you stay with James and Lily?"

"No. We have to find Bella and make sure she doesn't get hold of Lil." Sirius assured him, watching the house behind Remus' back, as a light flicked on. "...I've sent Harry to The Burrow. We can let Molly wrap him up in Cotton-wool for a bit, until we're got this sorted. You can go after The Ministry. If Moody's told them about Lily, and I bet he will have, then they're going to want her dead, as much as Bella's going to want her alive."

"I do know." Remus whispered back. "If I can get Tonks to calm down, she'll be able to find out what Moody's said. They're very close."

"Great. You do that. And give Baby Sirius my love." Sirius assured him. Remus said nothing, studying him expressionlessly for a moment. "…And I'll just turn into Padfoot and sleep here." Sirius added. "On the ground… Behind your bins." Remus' lip twitched.

"Can you go to your brother's?" He suggested, glancing back at the house, as the light went on in the kitchen, throwing a square of light onto the dark grass.

"No, because I'm keeping him safe." Sirius dismissed it, without consideration. "Harry is safe. Reggie's safe. James has taken Lily into hiding again. Everyone's safe. I'll just lie here, on the cold ground… all night… in the rain." He added, looking up at the cloudy starless sky.

Remus stared at him for a moment, mostly still marveling that Sirius was here, alive, able to like this. A grin broke through Sirius' attempt to be pitiful. "Alright." Remus assured him, and turned quickly back to the house.

"In the cold." Sirius hissed, after him. "...And the rain." Once Sirius couldn't see, Remus let his lips quirk into a momentary smile, before he braced himself and headed back into the house.


	87. Chapter 87

"Lily is a horcrux?" Ginny repeated, grimly.

"The one I was supposed to be." Harry nodded. "Snape accidentally caused it by rescuing her."

"And Bellatrix knows." Hermione added. "She wants to use Lily to bring Voldemort back."

The three of them were sitting on Ron's bed, on the top floor of the silent house. It was gone midnight, so Ron, Fred and George were presumably again out celebrating Fred returning and Voldemort's defeat. _Again_.

"We don't actually know that Bellatrix knows." Harry said. "Only that she's back."

"I though Sirius pushed her out of a window?" Ginny said.

"She jumped. Sirius didn't push her." Harry put in quickly, interrupting Hermione again. "She jumped… but she survived." Ginny looked from one to the other.

"_How _did she survive?" She demanded, finally.

"Well, Snape, he rescued her." Harry admitted. "Sirius thinks Snape meant her to murder him, but when I talked to Snape, he only wanted to help my mum. I'm sure he never meant this to happen. He returned the Elder Wand to me, and the Time-turner to my mum."

"And you gave the Elder Wand back to James?" Ginny clarified. "And now, no one knows where Snape is? But Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange are looking for Lily, to resurrect Voldemort?"

"Yes. Well, we don't actually know what they're doing. But Sirius overheard Bellatrix say that Voldemort had survived."

"We do know," Hermione said awkwardly, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Actually, Regulus sent me an owl."

"Regulus sent you _another_ owl!?" Ginny said, angrily.

"'_Another'_ owl?" Harry demanded. Hermione tried hard to look exasperated.

"This is exactly why I didn't tell you." She pointed out.

"Have you told Ron?" Ginny and Harry demanded, in unison.

"I will, when he finally gets back from work." She said, moving swiftly on. "But Bellatrix is definitely hunting for the horcrux, and preparing for Voldemort's return. And Regulus is offering to help you, Harry, in any way you need."

"Help Harry, or help you?" Ginny asked, tartly.

Hermione ignored her. She missed Regulus a lot, and worried that their friendship had caused him to rush into this engagement with Flora Carrow. Hermione remembered Flora and Hestia from school and didn't like them. She wasn't surprised that the Carrow twins were in contact with Bellatrix, but she hated the thought of Regulus being with them.

Ginny clicked her fingers in front of Hermione's face. "I'm worried about Lily and James." Hermione snapped. "And Sirius. Has he gone somewhere where The Ministry won't find him?"

"He said he was going to Remus and Tonks' house." Harry admitted, doubtfully. They all took a moment to mull over this in silence.

"Right." Hermione said, finally. "And what about Snape?"

"I don't know," Harry said. "He gave me the wand back. Maybe my mum knows where he's gone?"

"Maybe he's back with Reggie and Bellatrix," Ginny said. "Alright Harry. I'm sick of waiting for Ron. Either send a patronus or leave him a note so he can catch us up."

Harry and Hermione caught each others startled expressions.

"Catch us up, going where?" Hermione demanded.

"To find Bellatrix." Ginny said, in astonishment. "Bellatrix and Rabastan are trying to resurrect Voldemort, using a horcrux, that is Harry's mother. I've already used the galleons to call the DA together, Hermione."

"_You've done what_?" Harry demanded. Ginny raised her eyebrows at him and pulled the enchanted galleon that Hermione had created, from her pocket. Its sole purpose was to bring Dumbledore's Army to their meetings, and it currently showed the present date.

"This is your _mum_, Harry." Ginny pointed out. "And you don't have to fight on your own, anymore."

~o0o~

"…You know what the problem is, Moony." Sirius pointed out, nursing a mug at the kitchen table.

"_I do _know what the problem is," Remus assured him, ruefully enough to make Sirius grin.

"How charming," he said. "And no. The problem is definitely that Tonks is very immature and..."

"My wife doesn't really have _any_ faults, Sirius." Remus interrupted him. "If she seems immature to you, which some people may find bitterly ironic, that would be because she actually is young. She_ is_ young, but she is also fantastic; a devoted wife, a brilliant auror, brave, kind, loyal, funny…"

"Oh, shut up, Remus." Sirius warned him, wrinkling his nose and hiding in his mug.

"You shouldn't have taken Teddy." Remus told him. Told him for the seventeenth time, by Sirius' reckoning. "Can you imagine how frightening that must have been for her?"

"Very easily. I told you, Remus; they were planning to do it to you. Stop being so nice. They were going to do it to you and _I_ was standing up for you; for all the thanks I ever get."

"It's not important." Remus waved it away, coming to sit down again.

A glance at the clock revealed it was gone three, in the morning. Rain was still lashing against the dark window and the rest of the house was silent. Sirius had spent a good chunk of the night outside, and his hair was still wet, but he hadn't complained, even in jest. They were both so appalled by Lily's predicament that jesting didn't come easily, although it put Remus' own marital problems into perspective. He yawned, and flicked the kettle back on.

"Don't make me drink more tea." Sirius begged, at once. "Wake Dora up. Tell her you've got to go after Bellatrix, and tell her to find out what Moody's told The Ministry."

"In a couple of hours." Remus said, taking Sirius' mug to refill. "You can get some sleep on the couch, if you want."

"I don't want to sleep on your couch." Sirius said, slightly too sharply.

"Great. Then wake me up at six." Remus said and, with a slightly too smug smile, he took himself off to the living room.

~o0o~

It was painful, in many ways, to stand amid the united DA members. Harry counted each and every one of the students, looking expectantly at him, as his friends.

More than friends.

Years lived together in boarding school, separated from their parents and families, sharing secrets and sharing childhoods, had bound them together; bound them together in a childhood that had been severed totally, in violent and frightening fighting.

.

They had never met in the dusty outhouse at The Burrow before but they took their familiar seats, friends grouped together, stark empty gaps marking the places of children, lost to battle. Their friends, still living, sat either side of their empty seats.

.

"We could have done so much more." Hermione said, finally. "We could have saved so many more people with the Time-turner."

"Because we haven't done enough damage yet?" Ginny said, firmly, and she whipped her wand, making the room suddenly silent. "I'm sorry about the short notice." She said, briskly. "Harry has some horrific news to share with you all, and then we have a job to do, as quickly and efficiently as possible."


	88. Chapter 88

Rain lashed the grand wall of windows, turning the sea of city lights into a dribbly watercolour. In the hotel room's palatial on-suite, James was running the shower and talking loudly, to be heard over the weather and the drumming water.

Lily wasn't listening. She was gazing at her reflection. Probably from exhaustion her skin looked paler than usual and her red hair, still damp from the shower, was swept off her forehead, so that she could see it, _the scar_. It was slightly raised, dark and quite painless.

Her mournful face stared back.

Behind the glass, the lights of the city flickered, dancing about like stars, until they became stars. Stars, high above her head, in a clear still night. The air was icy cold and the infinite sky was black and cloudless. High pine trees rising like black fingers, reaching up around her; around him,

.

_Voldemort's eyes_.

.

Fear brought Lily back to herself and she stared hard at the watery orange lights through the window, feeling the prickle of another mind, peering at the same thing, spying through her.

Without meaning to, she gave a cry of alarm; feeling stupid as James rushed back into the room, using the Elder Wand to flick a towel around his waist, as he rushed to hold her.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." She heard herself say, but it sounded wrong. The words seemed to be coming from far away. Her fingers, clutching hold of James wet arm, didn't seem to make proper contact with his dripping skin.

"_Lily_," James said, the wand flickering and glowing in his hand, like a guiding light, bringing her back into herself, into his arms.

"I'm fine." She said again, trying to make it sound believable.

"You're missing Harry?" James said, eyes warm with compassion. Lily nodded. _Don't lie to James_, the voice inside her head whispered, but she was no longer certain if it was her own thoughts or his. She shaped her lips into a firmer smile and agreed when he suggested bed.

.

They were in some luxurious Muggle hotel. The beds covers were made of silk, but they felt lighter than cobwebs against her skin. When her eyes closed, she saw trees and fields flying past and she was sure that something in her watery view of lights and rain had been recognisable to him, to Voldemort. Maybe her own mind had betrayed her, whispering her location to him. Lily didn't know how, but she knew for certain, _Voldemort was coming for her._

~o0o~

James knew he had many failings.

...Okay, not many failings… but he had a few… probably.

...Actually, James really couldn't think of any specific failings that he had, but clearly he must have some, or he wouldn't have died at twenty two... or failed to stop Voldemort murdering his wife; and he definitely wouldn't have ended up in this mess.

James didn't speak parceltongue but he recognised the strange hissy vowels that his, now sleeping, wife rasped. Her eyes were half-open and both hands, hooked into talons, felt blindly across the sheets, searching for something. James pulled up a chair, facing the bed, and settled himself to watch her.

.

At six-thirty in the morning he sent his sparkling patrona, bounding through the apricot sky to Sirius. The stag landed in Remus' living room, snorting and pawing the ground at six-fifty. It filled the room with its glittering light and James's voice snapped Remus' eyes open, making him swing up right, squinting at the stag's brilliance.

The black dog, formerly asleep on his legs, jumped to the carpet, human again at once.

And Teddy, watching from his mum's arms, clapped excitedly, as the patrona repeated James's message, about Lily's possession and the whispers of parceltongue.

~o0o~

"…Good morning, Tonks." Remus said, finally. "I didn't want to wake you so early."

Tonks glared silently at him, before depositing Teddy on the rug that still shimmering with the last glittering fragments of deer, and stalked out of the room.

"Watch Teddy for me." Remus told Sirius; who studied him with a glare remarkably similar to Remus' wife's. Ignoring it, Remus hurried after her, tapping on the bathroom door before he let himself in.

.

"I'm sorry about that." He said, briskly, looking at the steam rising around the flimsy shower curtain. "Obviously we're really worried about Lily… And everything. The Ministry are still hunting for the Time-turner."

"We are." Tonks voice confirmed, with emphasise on the 'we'.

"And if it's destroyed, we're all dead." Remus reminded her. "Teddy's becomes an orphan. Moody, your father, everyone we've saved will vanish."

"...Voldemort." Tonks added, scrubbing briskly on the far side of the curtain. "Bellatrix. And only Lily knows where the Time-turner is. She said it's irretrievable."

She stepped out of the shower in a billow of steam. Remus blinked, fighting the urge to avert his gaze, as if they hadn't been married for over a year. Tonks scowled at him, leaving soaking footsteps as she walked naked to the sink and wiped the mirror.

"You've left Teddy with him, again, haven't you?" She said, peering at her distorted reflection.

"To talk to you," Remus pointed out. "Can you try to find out what Moody has said about Lily?"

"I'll do anything I can, to help Lily." Tonks assured him, still studying the mirror. Remus picked up a towel.

"Right. Then I'll go and keep an eye on Teddy." He stated, offering it to her. Tonks turned round to study it, and him.

"_I want him out of this house when I get back from work_." She hissed at him, eyes hard and steel grey. "And keep him away from our son."

.

"She's gone to work." Remus said, forcing a smile as he returned to the living room.

Sirius was lying on the sofa, with Teddy sitting on his chest. "I know." He assured Remus, continuing to play with the happy baby. "I have good hearing, Moony."

"She isn't being unreasonable." Remus pointed out, sitting on the arm of the sofa. "You stole her baby."

"Your baby." Sirius pointed out, glancing over at him. "Who was with you, the entire time. Anyway, I'm sick of this. I'll help you kill Bellatrix and then I'll go. I haven't come back to ruin your marriage, or my cousins. It's enough that everyone hates me now."

The baby smacked him in the face and laughed. "James is alive." Sirius added, catching the chubby hand and kissing it. "I'm going to find him, and help round up all the Death Eaters; make the world a safer place for Harry and Teddy."

"That sounds very noble." Remus assured him. "I wish I could come and help with that."

Sirius' smile didn't reach his eyes, his attention didn't lift from the baby, who flopped over, head-butting his' lip, trying to hug him. "Want to come with me, Baby Sirius?" Sirius asked, wrapping his slim arms carefully around the chubby little body. "…Yeah, he wants to come with me." He added, swinging up onto his feet and passing the baby back to Remus.

"I want to come with you." Remus told him.

Sirius laughed.

"But you can't, Moony." He said, airily. "Because you grew up, and got married. ...So did James." He added, something dark and unfathomable, glistening dangerously in his eyes. "You all did." He said, roughly. "I'll do it on my own." And he vanished, leaving only Padfoot, massive and silent, waiting for them to leave.


	89. Chapter 89

Remus left his son with his dour mother-in-law, and headed across town to Gringgots with the black dog on his heels. Silently, he sifted through the contents of Vault 711, looking for anything that might help them track down or fight Bellatrix, but there was little that looked to be of use. At lunchtime he headed back up to daylight and to Sirius' brother's new address, with the black dog still padding silently behind him.

.

"What do you want, Lupin?" Regulus snapped, holding the door, to keep Remus from stepping off the street. At once, Sirius erupted out of the dogs furry body, giving his brother a shove.

"Really Siri, there's no need for poor manners." Regulus said, wrinkling his nose and giving Sirius a one armed hug, as he let them both inside. "This is a nice surprise. You've had no more impromptu meetings with Bella, I hope?"

"No." Sirius said, rather dully. Regulus frowned at him for a moment, before beckoning him on into a rather unpretentious town house, not dissimilar to Grimmauld Place. An unusual pram with two hoods took up most of the neglected corridor, forcing them to squeeze through in single-file.

They stepped into a high-ceilinged Front Room, where the Carrow sisters, Flora and Hestia, sat together in identical green dresses, their long dark hair braided into a mirror-image. They watched Sirius and Remus with pale expressionless faces and washed-out blue eyes.

"My brother, Siri." Regulus introduced him. "Siri, this is Flora and Hestia Carrow."

"Lovely." Sirius said, appraising the two identical girls without interest. "I believe I knew your uncle (?) before he became a Death Eater and torturer of children."

"_Uncle had little choice_." The two girls said, so perfectly in unison that Sirius glanced at Remus in surprise. "…_Or mother_." They added, again together.

"Flora and Hestia were in Harry's year at Hogwarts." Regulus told him, waving his hand to offer Sirius a seat on the free couch.

"_Professor Lupin taught us_." The two girls stated, together, staring intently at Sirius as he sat down.

Sirius glanced quizzically at Remus, who only smiled benignly.

"_We heard you got married._" The girls added, both heads turning to look at Remus, now. "_And had a baby_."

"Didn't hear that from me." Regulus added, with a grin. "I think it's ghastly. Drink, Siri?"

"No." Sirius waved it away, glancing for a moment at the two identical faces, both staring quite fixedly at him. He shifted to better face his brother. "Reggie, I have to find Bella. When did you last speak to her?" He asked, deciding to ignore it.

"Yesterday. The girls spoke to her." He nodded across the room, again. "She's looking for Potter and his wife. And you, Siri."

"_She says you're a blood traitor_." The two girls chorused. Sirius looked round at them again, and then at his brother.

"Which they don't mind." Regulus added.

"_We don't mind_." They confirmed. "_We think it's very brave_."

"I'm glad you feel like that." Remus offered, softly. The four identical eyes moved onto him again, scrutinizing; considering.

"_Thank you, Professor_." They said, finally.

"Obviously they think I'm very brave as well, Siri." Regulus added, settling back in his chair, but watching his brother carefully. "Sacrificing my life to overthrow Voldemort."

"That is actually fascinating." Remus interrupted him, entirely ignoring Regulus' outraged glare. "I imagined that you would be supporters of Voldemort, as the rest of your family were. I do actually think that's very impressive."

"_Thank you, Professor_." They chorused again. They both looked over at Sirius, before they spoke; the action exaggerated by its duplication. "_We find it confusing._" They stated. "_We think it's wise to side with whomever is victorious. You can be of no use to anyone, if you are dead._"

"Well, there is a degree of sense in that." Remus agreed.

"No, there isn't." Sirius snapped. "That's cowardice. Better to die for what you believe in, than to live for what you don't."

"_Yes, we like that._" Identical smiles curled up the two identical mouths, making slits of their narrow eyes. "_We think you're brave._"

Regulus sighed, audibly. "Such a hero, Siri." He mocked. "Although I still can't think of anything useful you actually did in the war."

"That's because you were dead for most of it." Sirius pointed out, glancing uneasily at the two identical girls, and actually shifting slightly across the sofa, away from them. Regulus noticed, his grin returning.

"So brave, Siri." He mocked softly. "I'll try to find out where Bella is."

"Excellent." Sirius said, with little feeling. "Send me an owl."

"Right…" Regulus got up, considering his brother shrewdly, for a moment. "Want to stay for lunch, Siri?" He asked.

"No." Sirius got up as well.

"Stay for lunch." Regulus decided. "Where are you staying, Siri?"

"With Remus," Sirius said. "I'll be waiting for your owl. Let's go, Remus."

"It was nice to see you again, Flora, Hestia." Remus added.

"_It was nice to see you again, Professor_." The two mouths intoned together. "_We'll show you out_."

"Chin up, Siri." Regulus added, trying to give him a hug, as he stalked out.

.

"We'll get some lunch, Sirius." Remus told him. "Then pick Teddy up and find somewhere safe for you to stay; somewhere the Ministry won't find you."

"I don't care about The Ministry." Sirius said, sullenly. "Once I've dealt with Rabastan, I'll go to Kingsley."

"Good." Remus said, stepping back to let one of the Carrow twins deal with the wards on the front door. Although he had taught the two girls for a full year, Remus had never established a way to tell them apart. He hoped, for Regulus' sake, that he had.

.

"Siri?" The twin that wasn't dealing with the door said, suddenly. "Siri, we wish you would stay here." Sirius looked round at her, uncertainly. Her thin lips curled into a smile, which Remus would have described as somewhere between 'sinister' and 'predatory', if a teenage girl could manage such a thing. The twin behind his back abandoned the door, watching intently. He would place a good guess that this was Flora, and the speaker was Hestia - the unengaged twin. Sirius blinked at her for a moment before he smiled.

"Much as I'd love that, I really can't." He said, brightly. "But thank you, all the same."

"Reggie would like it." Flora added, firmly. _"We would."_

Sirius looked over at Remus, who folded his arms lazily across his chest, leaning against the wall by the strange buggy. He'd forgotten how amusing it was to spectate on highly inappropriate girls trying to chat Sirius up.

"We have to deal with Bella." Sirius told the twin in his line of vision, earnestly. "I don't want her coming near here."

"We thought you should be here, with Reggie." Flora said softly, behind them, forcing them both to turn round again.

"In case Bella comes back, for Reggie." Hestia added. "You should stay here with us, Siri."

"For Reggie." Flora agreed. "You should stay here."

~o0o~

The Parceltongue hissed, harsh and unabated, as Lily clawed herself off the bed. Eyes half-closed, she felt her way blindly along the wall; her tongue flicking and tasting the air, like a serpents. It was almost funny. And the actual horror of it threatened to make James laugh. Calmly he kept his wand leveled on her distorted face. "_Lil!_" He shouted, firmly. "Lily, love! You're doing it again!"

He watched her jump, eyes flying open and widening in alarm. "I'm sorry. I'm just so tired." She apologised, nervously holding her own arms. "…and cold. Do you think you're going to be able to get it out of me?"

"Of course I am." James assured her. "It might just take some time, and possibly a little study."

"I need to rest." Lily said, eyelids drooping again. "I can't fight it, when I'm so exhausted."

"I think you should stay awake." James assured her with forced brightness. "Let's put on some music; loud music."

Lily gave him a rueful smile. "I am sorry." She assured him. "How do you stay so calm?"

"Because I'm ace." James grinned. "And because I know Harry's safe and we're together. Besides, crying like a little girl wouldn't be very reassuring for you, now, would it?"

"Not so much." Lily agreed. "But I think you're wonderful."

"I am." James agreed. "Stay awake. I'll conjure up a record player."

.

Lily watched him. There was a radio alarm clock at the side of the bed, but it looked too modern for her to fathom it, and she liked watching him transfiguring things; it was a beautiful art and their shared passion.

.

As James let the Elder Wand dance, carving out the intricacies of the player, Lily felt Voldemort again looking through her, seeing the room, her messy haired husband, the dancing wand, with the same eyes but with very foreign emotions.

"I love you, James." She told him, fiercely. The book in James' hand turned into a heart-shaped record, and they both laughed. "Not trying to put you off, Mr Potter," she added.

"This will play beautiful music." James assured her, setting the wonky record onto the player, and watching the needle scratching across it. "…Or not." He conceded.

.

"He's here, James." Lily told him, calmly. James watched the scratchy heart-shaped record for a moment longer before he hit her with a bright smile.

"Best not let him in then." He said, catching her wrist and swinging her into his arms. A single swish of the Elder Wand and the record player started spewing out loud music.

.

Beyond the window, shadows swept about in the apricot dawn, closing in on the Muggle building. Lily watched them over James's shoulder, listening to the hissing voices in her head, and her husband's jaunty familiar music.


	90. Chapter 90

Lost in her magic, Bellatrix was at her most wild and beautiful. Almost deranged with excitement, she flicked her wand, sending wicked licks of painful spells at the Lestrange House Elves the and Imperio-enchanted wizards that dug clumsily into the dark earth, at her feet. The windy night made her regal gown and dark hair whip about her proud aristocratic face as her lips shaping the same line, over and over,

"_Bone of the father, unknowingly given"_

It was into the grave of Voldemort's father that the enslaved dug, searching for remaining human tissue, to resurrect Bellatrix's master.

Her brother-in-law, Rabastan, sat on a near grave, his narrow face peevish in the chill of the wind. He was thinking about black dogs and moonlight. The hideous damage done to his legs by the werewolf's infected bite had been irreparable. Beneath the silvery metal boots, he could feel his, forever exposed, bones responding to the cold air, where the rest of his legs had once been.

.

Bellatrix wouldn't risk using Sirius' blood for the resurrection spell, not that he particularily cared. The spell was a means to an end, not some thrilling orgasmic experience. He glanced again at Bellatrix's heavy lidded eyes, dark with excitement; her flushed cheeks and her wet mouth. He scowled into the darkness.

The moon was already half-full and Rabastan was not looking forward to his transformation into a cursed half-breed later in the month. If it hadn't been personal enough already, he thought bitterly, Sirius had excelled himself this time.

_._

"_Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son. Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master. Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe._"

.

Harry was certain that if Bellatrix was resurrecting Voldemort, like Peter Pettigrew had done, she would need those three things; his blood, her own flesh, and bones from the Riddle graveyard.

She would also need what was left of Voldemort. His spirit had possessed Quirrel and then it had lodged in that weird little body he remembered Wormtail adding to the cauldron in the graveyard. Harry didn't know who Voldemort had possessed now, but while his last Horcrux survived in Lily, he could probably possess whomever he wanted.

Harry had no idea if Voldemort was with Bellatrix, in another weakened body. He didn't know if Bellatrix had his father's bones, but he did know that she didn't have his blood, and that at least, convinced him that there was still time to stop her.

~o0o~

It hadn't occurred to James that Bellatrix might use Harry's blood. He, not Harry, had killed Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts – and he found it very hard to believe Harry would have managed it, without the Time-turner and James, himself.

James and Lily had defied Voldemort three times, in the First Wizarding War. No one had done more than that. He presumed that Bellatrix was going to need Lily anyway, because she was the last remaining Horcrux. As they were safely hidden away, together, why would she take blood from anyone other than him or Lily? James also presumed, highly incorrectly, that Harry was also staying safely hidden.

.

Harry was in fact in the one place he knew Bellatrix would have to go, The Riddle Graveyard. The whole of Dumbledore's Army were with him, hidden in the many long moon-shadows cast by the overgrown crumbling graves.

.

As far as Harry could make out, Bellatrix and Rabastan were alone. He'd said that Snape wouldn't be with them. Just as he was sure that Sirius was wrong about Snape t resurrected Bella for the sole purpose of murdering him. Although Snape hated Sirius, he didn't hate him _that_ much. Snape, as Harry was getting sick of reminding everyone, had been on their side all along. He'd lived and died for him, for Dumbledore, for the greater good.

So Harry was not remotely surprised that Snape was not digging about with Bellatrix and the horrible Rabastan, in the moonlight.

.

Having retrieved the bone required, Bellatrix turned her attention to creating a vast cauldron; something which Harry definitely hadn't expected her to start on this night. He glanced across at the next gravestone, where Ginny and Hermione were crouched, exchanging anxious glances, wishing them could speak.

.

The wizards and elves, started to spread out, stumbling clumsily through the dark graveyard, searching for wood to burn. For a moment Harry could see Rabastan, standing to assist Bellatrix, and then he and his friends were forced to creep and scramble deeper into the shadows, before they were discovered by the foragers.

.

Bellatrix struck the heap of firewood with her wand. A cascade of fire roared upwards, licking the sides of the massive iron cauldron.

The moon-shadows vanished, replaced with a dancing red glow. Bellatrix's voice came eerily through the darkness, chanting and whispering, as the strange zombified wizards and the scurrying house elves encircled the fire.

.

"Why is she doing it now?" Ron hissed, scrambling from his hiding place to Harry's. "She needs your blood and the the other stuff."

"She hasn't got it." Harry whispered back, anxiously. Light flickered and jumped about on his glasses. He didn't know why Bellatrix was doing it yet, either; unless it was just because she was mad.

.

So intently were they watching Bellatrix, that both Harry and Ron jumped, as Rabastan suddenly loomed over them, leading a whimpering muttering woman out of the darkness.

.

It wasn't Lily, Harry knew despite the darkness. His mum was small and pretty, with thick shoulder-length red hair. This woman was pale and very bony, wearing a long pale dress that looked like a hospital gown, or a nightie. Even her long, tied up hair, looked washed-out and colourless in the moonlight.

Two graves from Harry, Neville stood up. A moment later, Luna rose up beside him. "_Neville?_" Ginny hissed, angrily. "_Get down_!"

Neville didn't hear her, struggling free of the tangled brambles, eyes fixed on the people around the cauldron he simply stated three small words.

"_That's my mum_."


	91. Chapter 91

**AN: This chapter got too long, so I had to split it into two parts. (so for once I have tomorrow's chapter already written and ready to post :D )  
**

**I found Flora and Hestia Carrow on the Harry Potter Wiki. They are cannon(ish) identical twins in Slytherin house. I don't think they're in the books, but they are in a couple of the HP films. They're around Harry's age and are in Slug Club. I have no idea how the wiki knows their names. **

~o0o~

Three times they fought face to face against Voldemort; James, Frank, Alice and Lily. It was Alice's blood that Bellatrix wanted for the potion; a brave, pure-blooded and powerful witch. Bellatrix liked beauty in her dark art. She liked the pale shadow of the woman, who she alone had fought and defeated, while Barty and the Lestrange brothers held her husband up to watch. She liked the fear-filled muttering. She liked the look of recognition in those dead eyes; proof, Bellatrix thought, that fear lingered long after love was gone.

.

Carefully she accepted the blade from Rabastan. Lifting herself and the struggling woman, up onto the grave, she held her by a fistful of hair, facing the bubbling boiling water for a moment, savouring the circle of faces, house elf and wizard, glowing beneath her.

With care, Bellatrix pulled Alice's head backwards, stretching taut the fragile neck before running the blade carefully over the pale skin. She could smell Alice's fear; loved her frantic muttering, her bony trembling body.

With another glance at the assembled, she dug the tip of the blade into Alice's neck, aiming slightly downwards, so the spray of blood would hit the boiling water below them.

.

It was horror that had stopped Neville's mouth working for so long.

Luna's calm, fierce cry of 'Stuporfy' forced the word spilling from his own mouth. A moment later the graveyard was alive with flashes of red and green, as every member of the DA rose to their feet, flinging curse after curse to help him.

.

Dragging herself upright, Bellatrix lanced the hooked blade into Alice's leg, tearing through cloth and skin, and imbedding it in her wasted calf muscle. With a child-like cry of pain, Alice slid free and tumbled off the grave. Bellatrix threw the dripping knife down into the potion, screeching out the words of the spell.

The fearless Imperio'd wizards, ran blindly at the children, attacking with savage curses and hexes.

.

"_That's my mum!"_ Harry howled, mirroring Neville's horrified words; and ran heedlessly into the hail of spells.

For a moment he could see Lily, raised onto the gravestone beside Bellatrix, and then a curse hit full into his face, knocking him off his feet. There was a sensation of flying backwards through dark air; the sound of Ginny shouting loudly to Hermione, as she flung herself in front of him casting a shield spell, and then the graveyard vanished into darkness.

~o0o~

"...But I don't want to stay there, Moony." Sirius muttered, glancing nervously back at his brother's house.

"Regardless, I do think you should. It would be sensible to and safe." Remus pointed out, valiantly trying not to smile. They had been with Regulus, Flora and Hestia, all afternoon. He was searching the now dark Muggle streets for an open café. "…You could keep a much better eye on Regulus, if you were there."

"I don't even like Regulus." Sirius pointed out, crossly pushing rude Muggle people off the busy pavement, to get back to Remus' side. "And you don't get to choose where I sulk, Moony. Besides, they're very creepy. How does he even know which one is his girlfriend?"

"You're a hideously judgemental person." Remus said, directing him into a vast pub, that looked as if it had once been a bank. "Two perfectly nice girls. And it's obvious which one is Flora."

"It isn't either." Sirius scowled. "I know Reggie, and he didn't have a clue which one was his."

"It's easy to tell them apart." Remus promised. "When you open your eyes in the depths of the night, the one looming over your bed with the knife and potion soaked rags is Hestia."

Sirius sighed at him. "They are freaky and weird," he said, again. "Moony, let's get wrecked on Muggle wine. I always feel like killing people when I have a hangover. It'll be helpful."

"It isn't really murder." Remus stated, seriously. He took some Sickles and Knuts from his pocket and transfiguring them into paper Muggle-money, adding, "Bellatrix is already dead, really."

"That's a pathetic argument." Sirius told him. "We're _all_ already dead. We are killing Bellatrix before she can get near Teddy; or Harry; or James and Lily. Hooray for us. That is 'good murder', Moony."

Remus ignored him, paying for a bottle of wine and taking two glasses over to a corner table. "I think Hestia likes you." He said, instead. "A lot."

"I think I should rescue Reggie." Sirius mused, accepting a glass of wine.

"No. You shouldn't." Remus told him. "You have to let people live with their own mistakes, and find their own solutions… You do."

"Yeah." Sirius said. "And what if she gets pregnant and traps him?"

Remus ignored him and Sirius sighed, irritably. "...You probably need to get off, Moony." He added. "I don't want to get you in trouble."

Remus continued to ignore him, and for a while they drank in what was actually companionable silence, mulling over the day with Regulus and the Carrow Twins.

.

It was nice, sitting with Sirius in the anonymity of the Muggle-world. As an auror, Tonks worked long hours, day and night. Unable to work himself, Remus' looked after his son. He actually loved looking after his son; as he told Sirius, while they drank. He'd told Sirius this before, of course, but Sirius didn't point that out.

Remus also told him how happy he was that Sirius was back from the dead; despite the terrible things happening with Voldemort and Lily; despite Rabastan and Bellatrix surviving and threatening Teddy's safety; and despite the fighting, and the Ministry wanting to destroy the Time-turner and Sirius.

It turned out to be quite a long and serious list of things that spited his joy in Sirius' resurrection, but Remus was still, undeniably very happy.

His wife threatening to divorce him wasn't good either but that was a matter of perspective, as he pointed out to Sirius when they'd reached the end of their second bottle. It was very like the business with the Time-turner. They may have inadvertently rescued Voldemort and permanently altered the future in a terrible way, but he _had_ got Sirius back.

That had actually worked.

He was sitting in Muggle-London, getting drunk with Sirius, like they were again seventeen.

Come morning, vaguely hung-over, he would have his beautiful son in his arms, safe and well. There really was _nothing_ Remus wouldn't do to make sure Teddy was safe. He didn't doubt for a moment that Sirius felt the same. Unlike Tonks.

Tonks would want her aunt caught and brought to justice, in a court of law.

But Tonks was younger than them. She still had faith in The Ministry, and it's justice system; in the system protecting the individual. Although Remus loved her for that, he had seen and suffered too much to share that belief.


	92. Chapter 92

"So, what do you want to do about Bella, Sirius?" He asked, taking the bottle to refill their glasses equally. "And Rabastan."

"_And Snape_." Sirius said, darkly.

"Snape isn't threatening to kill children." Remus pointed out.

"No. Just us." Sirius glanced at Remus before beckoning over a passing glass-collector, giving her paper money to get another bottle and smirking like a naughty child. "Maybe they have rooms here." He added, glancing up at the high ceiling, painted a rather strange blood red. "I could live in a Muggle pub, I'm sure."

"Well, I think you need Hestia and Flora to tuck you in at night." Remus told him. "...They were actually perfectly nice girls, at school." He added, more decently. "Considering their parentage."

"They're crazy freaks and they'll try to murder me in my bed, and eat my corpse." Sirius said, firmly. "I'm going to stay here, or somewhere similar. I'll send Rabastan an owl. He'll come and find me. And then we will kill him; together, Moony."

"And maybe get Bellatrix's location from him." Remus added, sipping thoughtfully.

"Yes." Sirius agreed. "Shall we leave this, and get Baby Sirius back?"

"If you want." Remus agreed at once. "I want to keep him with me, until we've dealt with Bellatrix. And we should check on Harry; make sure Molly's keeping him out of trouble."

"I'm sure she is." Sirius said, with a sneer. "He's probably not allowed to wipe his own arse."

"There's an image I never wanted in my head." Remus laughed, emptying his glass and getting up again. Sirius used his wand to transfigure the bottle into something soft and pliable, before slipping it into his jacket.

"Might as well spend some time with your son, while I'm allowed." He said, tartly.

"You'll always be allowed." Remus reminded him. "We can take him out and show him Muggle things, in the daytime. Shall we apparate over to the Burrow and check on Harry, first?"

"In case Molly's accidentally let him cross a road without holding her hand?" Sirius asked, taking a swig of wine from the bottle in his jacket. "No. I want to see Baby Sirius." Remus ignored him, taking the bottle and drinking more. It wasn't the third bottle, possibly not even the forth.

It was late at night now. Andromeda would definitely have put Teddy to bed and Remus was still sober enough for it to occur to him that, even if Teddy was randomly up in the middle of the night, arriving drunk at his angry mother-in-laws, with Sirius in tow, just to look at how beautiful and safe his little boy was, still seemed like a bad idea.

.

"Tonks won't be back till morning." He said, gesturing Sirius into another bar. "Look; rooms."  
"Oh, _thanks_, Moony." Sirius scoffed, laughing himself.

"Get a room." Remus told him. "I'm done with drinking."

"But I like drinking." Sirius said, taking paper money out of Remus' pocket to go to the bar. "And you're much more fun when you're drunk, Moony."

"Yes, well, I actually, I think it's fine to be drunk." Remus assured him. "You can't only do childcare and fighting wars all the time. And I do love that you're alive. Because you really are alive again, Sirius."

"Yeah, I am." Sirius grinned at him. "So it's fine, see? And it's probably our last chance to relax, before we have to deal with Bellatrix, Rabastan, Snivels and Dora. And you never go out, Moony. At least I hope you haven't been, seeing as I was dead. I hope you just sat around and cried a lot."

"And Dora will be fine." Remus told him, randomly. "She just doesn't like you, Sirius. But she doesn't like me much, either. Just let her… You need to just give her some space... and time. Girls like space and time."

"Splendid idea." Sirius laughed. "Your drunk wisdom astounds me, Moony."

"I'm right. I'll tell you again when I'm sober." Remus assured him. "Shut up, Sirius. Get a room. I am making sure you're alright."

~o0o~

Ginny gave Harry a fierce shake. She couldn't see any obvious injuries on him, but nor could she wake him up. The wizards, controlled by Bellatrix or Rabastan's Imperio curse, continued to attack them and many of the DA seemed reticent to attack people who clearly were acting against their will.

Up by the Riddle grave, Alice's screams continued wild and unabated. Red flames roared, illuminating the massive cauldron and Lily and Bellatrix were both lost in the chaos of darkness and fighting.

With a shriek of alarm, Hermione fell down beside them; one of the Lestrange's House Elves clawing up her body, scratching and biting at her face.

Ginny dropped Harry back onto the ground, to boot the elf off, yanking Hermione back to her feet, as the dirty grey creature raced back across the ground, on all fours for speed.

Having lost her own, Hermione snatched Harry's wand from his loose grip and knocked the elf backwards, joining Ginny in trying to shield Harry's unconscious body form attacks that now seemed to be coming from every direction.

~o0o~

It had been a quiet night in the Auror Office. Preparation to locate Lily and James was slow, although Alastor had filed a full report, confirming that the Horcrux was in Lily.

The Unspeakables, like the Aurors, were still searching for Sirius and the Time-turner. Tonks had checked that Rabastan was no longer with the Unspeakables, and had spent much of the evening listening to a senior Unspeakable, who clearly had no idea who she was, explaining to her that Sirius was a Black and so clearly loyal to Voldemort and intent on resurrecting him through the sacrifice of his friends. Tonks had been rather tempted to encourage this notion; actually, quite a lot tempted, but she had resisted.

The night dragged on. There were only three aurors on duty. Tonks drank a lot of coffee, did her paperwork and worried. She worried about her marriage, her husband's safety and her baby's safety. She also worried about more mundane things. She worried about Teddy missing her as much as she missed him, and if it was bad for him to be separated from her for such long periods of time, when he was still so small. She worried about the state of her marriage and whether it was all actually her own fault, although she suspected not.

She wondered about perfectly sensible things, as well; like if Sirius would be unable to change back into a person, if one was to fasten a tight collar around his animagus form's neck. And how long it would take Padfoot, crated up and sent to some foreign country, to get the collar off and return home.

She wondered if she would go to sleep on her desk, before the night was up, and get shouted at by her boss again, when he showed up to take over at six thirty.

~o0o~

Andromeda Tonks was sitting in her living room. The fire was ashy and the room was warm and quiet.

Her husband, so recently and mercifully returned to her from the dead, was asleep in his old armchair. Her grandson was in the crib beside her, rocking gently under her wands enchantment. There was no sound, aside from the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hall.

Andromeda's glasses and the book she was half way through reading, were on the table beside her but she wasn't reading, finishing correspondence or finishing the outfit she was sewing for Teddy. She was actually doing nothing at all, just sitting and thinking about happy peaceful things.

.

She recognised Rabastan as he entered the room. She'd gone to Hogwarts with his elder brother and they had danced an obligatory dance at her sisters wedding.

She got up out of her chair, not really sure if she meant to speak to him or reach for her wand.

She did neither.

Rabastan's wordless curse sliced into her neck and chest. Heavily, she fell to the floor.

On the sleeping Ted Tonks, Rabastan used The Killing Curse, before pausing to admire his handiwork.

Andromeda's blood, pumped by her still pounding heart, spread like red ink over the patterned rug. She looked like a dead Bellatrix, something Rabastan relished with a perverse excitement. When he'd looked enough, he stepped over her and lifted the baby out of the cradle, carrying it triumphantly out of the house.


	93. Chapter 93

Nymphodora Tonks sat, rather straight backed; her skin blanched and expression blank. There was a coffee mug in her hands that had been cold for more than an hour. It just didn't seem possible that so many bad things could have happened in a one single shift at work.

For the longest time Alastor had been sitting silently with her. She wasn't sure when he'd left, only that the aurors had finally tracked Remus down, and Alastor had insisted she stay here, going in her place to fetch him.

She wanted, and it was the most pathetic feeling in the world, but she wanted her mother. How could her mother not exist in the world anymore? The image she'd never seen, of her parents dead in their home, taunted her. She needed her mother. She needed to tell her mother that her baby was missing.

Teddy was not missing.

Insane 'Aunt Bella'; murderer of children and hater of her marriage to Remus, had Teddy.

They had Teddy. Her baby.

Her mother was dead.

Her parents were dead.

Teddy; she didn't know and wished that she couldn't imagine what they might be doing to Teddy.

If she'd eaten anything she would have vomited. But she hadn't. So she simply stood up as Remus appeared in the doorway, unshaven, grey-faced, stinking of alcohol.

.

She waited, briefly, for him to hold her.

He didn't.

The thoughts in her head were louder than the silence in the room.

She still couldn't understand how this had happened. How her baby could be gone; how Remus could have abandoned him to spend the night with Sirius; how her parents could both be dead; how her baby, her _baby_ could be taken by these terrible people; people who wanted to hurt him.

"_It's all your fault_," she said.

And then she started to cry, weird inhuman noises that sounded like they were coming from someone else. Frantically she clutched hold of him; her body heaving with huge choking sobs, unable to stop.

~o0o~

It had been a terrible night for everyone. Not one member of the DA had thought to cast a patronus, to call for adult assistance.

The ground was muddy with churned earth, rain; and blood. The air held its metallic tang, recognisable to most of the aurors.

Bellatrix and Rabastan had long since gone but the imperio-enchanted wizards had continued to attack well into the dawn.

The DA's defensive spells and shield charms had protected the majority of them but the fighting had still been fierce when the aurors finally did arrive. They's been alerted by Professor Slughorn, who in turn had been sent by Regulus Black, as soon as the Dark Mark on his pale wrist had flared into life.

.

Regulus was not in the muddy graveyard, with the aurors and his old House Master.

He was standing in his childhood home, shivering slightly because the heating had always been temperamental in the early morning.

Bellatrix, who had summoned them, was pacing the Drawing Room, the hem of her flared dress still wet with graveyard mud, and drying sprays of blood freckling her flushed skin.

Flora and Hestia stood beside him, quite expressionless, but probably as frightened as he was. The twins had been present when Regulus had told Slughorn to get aurors sent to the graveyard. They both knew that Regulus had betrayed Voldemort and stolen his horcrux necklace.

If Voldemort would recall these events, Regulus didn't know. He looked across at Severus, stony-faced and unreadable, ready to fight for his self-preservation. Regulus moved himself firmly in front of the two frightened twins.

~o0o~

Owing to the state of his legs, and the repugnant infection crawling through his veins, it would not be possible for Rabastan to say he was happy. But he was as close to it as he was currently going to get. The Dark Mark on his arm burned furiously, but aware as he was of Bellatrix's brutal plan for her nieces baby, he ignored it. Relined on his bed he wrote slowly and with much relish, to Sirius.

At his feet, the baby slept in a wooden draw, oblivious to its own worth. He'd had the house elves see to nursing it, with a sleeping draft laced milk. He had no desire to listen to a screaming child, while he wrote this very enjoyable letter to Sirius. As he pointed out on the parchment, it was _currently_ in his interest to see to the babies safety.

He didn't need to point out to Sirius just how sadistically Bellatrix would choose to torture her great-nephew, although he did anyway. One had to have some pleasures in life, and it wasn't hard to imagine Sirius' pretty face as he read the letter, offering the halfbreed child's return in exchange for Sirius.

Cheerfully, he tried to make his descriptions, both of Bellatrix's intended torture of the baby, and his own plans for Sirius, as graphic as possible.

.

Bella, of course, didn't know that he had her niece's baby. She was fully distracted by the Dark Lord's chaotic resurrection. Undoubtably Voldemort would be angry that Rabastan hadn't rushed to his side, but the Dark Lord couldn't afford to kill or maim the few followers he had left. For now, Rabastan could afford to ignore the angry summons.

~o0o~

Sirius was in the Auror office when the letter reached him. It had been intercepted at The Ministry's front desk, and was brought in by Alastor, already opened and read.

"Sirius." Alastor snapped, when he didn't take his head out of his hands. He watched, face like stone, as Sirius read through it and stumbled to his feet, heading straight to the quiet side room where Remus and Dora were holding each other, a perfect study in misery.

Alastor cleared his throat to get their attention, before plucking the letter back out of Sirius' grip and handing it to Dora; watching, expressionlessly as she and her husband read it.

"Rabastan has Teddy." Dora said finally, wiping beneath her eyes with a shaking finger. "He hasn't hurt him." Her grip on Remus' arm was bruising, her muscles shaky as she let him help her back to her feet.

"I'll write back to him now." Sirius stated, quietly. "It's me he wants, so he'll give you Teddy in exchange."

"Good." Alastor assured him, and went out of the room to fetch a quill and parchment for Sirius to do so.

"…Thanks." Remus said, finally, still holding his wife tightly in his arms. "Thank you, Sirius." Dora said nothing, a hand up to physically shield her face, head against Remus' side, until Sirius left the room.


	94. Chapter 94

**AN: Guest reviewer, thank you for leaving me reviews! :) I love getting them, because it helps me know when I'm getting things right, when I'm boring you to death, and when you love or hate a particular character.  
**

**And no, I wouldn't put something like that in this story. I think that would only belong in a 'M' rated story and I wouldn't want to write it anyway. Glad you said, though. All feedback, comments etc is great and makes putting the story on line worth while.**

**Thank you Snarky, for reviewing every chapter. There's nothing nicer.**

**And Molotov for your amazing long review with so much feed back for all the different characters. That was ace and such a nice surprise when I switched on the computer. Made my night :)**

**Thank you Carryontothewinterwinds and Kazo Sakamari, for all the ace reviews you always do! :D and Mambajama, Mrspoon and all of you, who's names I just lost, when I accidentally closed the page - yep I am an idiot and now I'm not getting yelled at to hurry up. Hope you enjoy the chapter ~ AshNox**

**.**

"Ready?" Alastor asked briskly.

"Is Harry safe?" Sirius got up at once.

"He's fine." Alastor snapped. Harry was not fine, still unconscious in St Mungo's, but it benefited Sirius nothing to know that. "He's fine and your brother's vanished, just like all the other Death Eaters this side of Azkaban. Let's get on with this."

So they apparated to the graveyard; the arranged meeting place. One of the Lestranges' house elves was sat on a grave, waiting. It's large watery eyes counted slowly over the group of aurors before, with a click of bony fingers, it vanished to inform it's master of their arrival.

.

Tonks moaned, clutching her husband tighter as Rabastan Lestrange appeared. Teddy was resting against his shoulder and he was flanked on both sides by the fawning elves and more bewitched wizards.

Rabastan's dark eyes darted over the group of aurors; the baby's mother; the werewolf that had infected him; Sirius, of course. He passed the baby down to a house elf, swishing his wand lazily as he watched Sirius hand his own wand over to the supposedly dead Mad-eye Moody, and submit to having his wrists fastened behind his back. Rabastan had demanded that. He had no intention of letting Sirius transform into his hell-hound alter-ego.

The exchange, fun though it may have been to draw out, was quick and efficient, leaving no opportunity for either party to mess around. Rabastan vanished out of the graveyard the moment he had a grip on Sirius' arm, and the aurors surrounded baby and parents, disapparating them all safely back to The Ministry building in London.

.

Sobbing and crying Tonks kissed every inch of available skin on her surprised baby's chubby body; pressing her face into his warm familiar smell and weeping with relief, devastation and exhaustion. It was some time before she adjusted her possessive grip to allow Remus access to their baby, by which time he had already left the room.

.

Remus did desperately want to hold his son, but Rabastan worked fast and there could be nowhere safer for Teddy than his mother's arms.

He sent his patronus loping into the city, in search of James and Lily, and an owl to Regulus. That done he went back into the building, to finally hold his precious baby in his arms.

Tonks was still sitting in the cell like 'relatives room', Teddy still in her arms. Hungry, bored and fretful; he reached out to his father, tired now of the dull room and the restrictive grasp.

"Where did you go?" Tonks said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve and keeping a firm grip on her son, as Remus sat next to her, holding one of the chubby hands.

"I sent a patronus to James." Remus told her. "I am sorry, Tonks."

"My parents are dead." Tonks stated. It still didn't seem possible.

"I know. I'm so sorry." Remus said again. Tonks tightened her grip on the baby and rubbed her eyes again.

"He's soaking and dirty." She said, finally. "And hungry. I want to go home."

Remus blinked at her for a moment, apparently considering this.

"No." He said, finally. "No. I have to try and help Sirius."

"How?" Tonks asked him. "Hopefully he's already dead, if that letter was anything to go on… I'm sorry." She added, at once, sweeping grey hair out of her tired eyes. "Look. My parents have been murdered. Our kidnapped son is crying, because he's sitting in the same wet nappy he was kidnapped in yesterday. It's not often I feel like this, Remus, but I need you to take us home."

"I'm sorry." Remus assured her. "But he's not dead yet, I know he's not." And he walked out.

~o0o~

Across town, Harry's eyes snapped open. He groped for a wand that had vanished and tried to blink the long ended fight into focus. It took some time to realise he was in fact in St Mungo's hospital and his father, still astonishing in itself, his _father_ was leaning worriedly over the bed. James' face broke into a broad smile as Harry stared at him.

"That's my boy!" James cried, brightly. "I knew my Elder Wand could fix you up! They don't call us Potters for nothing! I think they call us Potters because our ancestors were fond of pots and… otters? Or maybe potted-otter? I can't remember. How are you feeling, son?"

"Lily!" Harry cried, scrambling about in the tightly tucked hospital sheets and his father's restraint. "My mum!"

"_Is fine_." James assured him. "…Well, not fine, as such. But she will be. I'm on to that next, as soon as you stop trying to get out of bed. God, you're disobedient, Harry. I can't imagine who you get that from."

"Stop it!" Harry ordered him. "Let me get up! Where is Lily?"

"She's… absent." James conceded. "But I am addressing it, as soon as you stop fighting me and agree to stay in bed. You must let the good healers look after you. I have an irrate patronus from Remus to address, because Sirius has managed to, _yet again,_ get himself into trouble. But you are alive, so the first box on my list is ticked. I am sending Molly to sit with you, and I _don't_ expect you to leave The Burrow, until I come to fetch you. Do you understand me, Harry? I left you lot alone for _one day, Harry_."

"No!" Harry exclaimed, enough confusion and shock evident in his voice to make James laugh.

"Your father is here now." James assured him. "And that is an order, Harry. I'll be back as soon as soon as I can. How am I meant to concentrate on helping your mother, when I have to worry about what you're up to? I would have taken you with me, if I'd known you were this stupid."

And he hurried out of the room, leaving Harry sitting up in the bed, staring after him.

"...Ginny!" Harry flung himself out of the bed, discovered he had an injured ankle and hobbled to the door. "Ron? Hermione?" He called anxiously, limping on down the corridor, peering in rooms, mostly filled with members of the DA. No one, thank God, looked seriously injured.

He met Regulus at the bottom of the corridor, black Death Eater robes billowing as he skidded around the corner.

"_Are you alright, Harry?"_ He asked at once, catching Harry's arm.

"I'm fine." Harry said, slightly astonished. "Are you?"

"I wasn't there." Regulus assured him, holding Harry firmly, so he could use his wand to swirl a bandage round Harry's ankle. "Is everyone's alright though? _Everyone, _Harry?"

"I don't know." Harry assured him. "My dad just brought me round, ordered me to stay in bed and… Neville, have you seen Ginny?"

"All the Weasley's are in the big room on the end." Neville assured him, quickly. "Are you alright, Harry?"

"Yes. Your mum." Harry remembered. "Did she… what happened?"

"I don't know." Neville told him, anxiously. "I'm trying to find out. Maybe the aurors will talk to you."

"We shall get onto that." Regulus agreed politely, sweeping Neville aside and keeping Harry's arm to pull him onwards, checking rooms swiftly. "…His mother's alive._"_ He added, more quietly, once they were out of Neville's ear shot. "She's at mine, but she doesn't look good. Thin blond woman in a hospital gown, isn't it? Looks like him." Harry nodded, hobbling to keep up and crashing into Regulus as he finally found what he was looking for, and stopped dead, peering into the room where Hermione lay sleeping.

.

"Are we going in, then?" Harry demanded, finally, trying to keep his weight on one uninjured leg.

"Oh… no." Regulus stammered. "God, no. I… I just wanted to make sure she was safe."

"Oh. Good for you." Harry assured him. "Excuse me then. I have to make sure everyone's alright and try to help my mum."

"Of course." Regulus nodded, moving out of the way at once. "Yes, good stuff. I have to help my brother, I think."

"Why?" Harry asked, in alarm. "Why does Sirius need help?"

"Couldn't tell you." Regulus shrugged. "Got a, thankfully, vague letter from the Werewolf, mid Death Eater meeting. I'd call it comedy timing if it wasn't likely to result in my torture and death. Anyway, I shouldn't worry yourself. If it was anything serious I'd know about it from my end. I'm glad you're alright, Harry. Awfully sorry about your mum."

"Wait, you know what happened to my mum?" Harry demanded.

Regulus glanced at him, biting a pale lips.

"Just what you know." He reminded, gently. "Awfully bad luck, Harry; with the horcrux, and Bella wanting to raise the Dark Lord. Anything I can do to help, Harry, you say the word. He's going to find out what I did with his horcrux, inevitably, so might as well make myself useful. Chin up, Harry." He thumped him bracingly on the shoulder, gazed for a moment through the door at Hermione, then hurried back up the corridor.

Harry watched the lone figure for a moment, before limping into the room.

Hermione was dozing. Her hair, a mad frizzy halo on the pillow and colour in her cheeks. "…Reggie?" She murmured, blinking at him.

"No, it's not!" Harry exclaimed. "Why would Reggie be around when you woke up, Hermione?"

Hermione sat up, frowning at him, and looking around the room. "I thought I heard his voice." She explained. "What's happened, Harry? Is your mum alright?"

"I have no idea." Harry assured her. "We're all alright. Something's up with Sirius. My dad's gone to help my mum. But he's ordered me to stay at The Burrow, till he comes to get me."

"And what happened at the graveyard?" Hermione asked. "What happened with Voldemort?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." Harry assured her.


	95. Chapter 95

**AN: Thank you for reviewing, Jade, Gem, Carryontothewinterwinds, Holly Chase, Guest and Isabelle! :D**

.

"Morning, Moony!" James said surprisingly brightly. Remus was waiting outside the Ministry's Visitor's Entrance. "You look how I feel, only older," he added. "Where's Padfoot then?"

"With Rabastan Lestrange." Remus said, starting to walk quickly away from the building. "Moody's taken Teddy and Tonks home. He's going to stay with them."

"Excellent. You don't get much safer than that." James agreed. "And Teddy's alright?"

"Yes. He didn't hurt him. Have you heard any more about Lily?"

"Nope. But no one living can get through my wards. She definitely left by herself."

"Reg sent an owl. He thinks Lily's with Bellatrix. They're at Grimmauld Place. I'm going there now."

"Sounds sensible." James suggested. "Is that your entire plan?"

"I don't know." Remus assured him, sweeping a hand wearily through his hair. "Yes. I think so.

He took Rabastan's letter out of pocket, passing it to James and walking ahead of him, because he couldn't bear to reread it in his head, as James' eyes flicked over it.

"Righty." James screwed the paper up and tossed it into a bin. "That's grim. He never manages to just piss people off a little bit, does he? And your child is safe, Remus. That is the most important thing."

"It's not the only thing." Remus snapped, finally. "Seriously, James."

"I am serious." James assured him, watching the streets as they drew closer to Grimmauld Place. "What do you want, joint crying sessions over how mean Death Eaters are? How do you get to be that old without realising that they're a big bunch of bastards?"

.

Grimmauld Place looked as ever. Remus removed Reggie's letter and passed it to James, so he could read the address, and let the concealed house reveal itself.

"…We seriously need more of a plan." James concluded, taking the Elder Wand and invisibility cloak out. "Who do we think is in there?"

"All the Death Eaters outside of Azkaban. Lily, Sirius, Reggie, Severus."

"I think you'll find Reggie and Severus _are_ Death Eaters." James pointed out, donning his invisibility cloak, and vanishing. "How shall we enter?"

.

Grimmauld Place was dark, the atmosphere impossibly tense.

Lily, quite clearly possessed by Voldemort, was sitting in Sirius' father's chair. Her pale face looked misshapen and her green eyes were a mass of red veins. She was whispering secretively to Bellatrix, who was at her feet, looking every bit as insane as she was. Alice Longbottom, Neville's mother, was also kneeling at the foot of the chair, her face as grey white as her gown and hair, as her blanched lips. She looked very confused and frightened.

.

James watched carefully through the window, before getting a grip on the drain pipe and clambering nimberly up to the top floor, peering through more windows, before swinging himself onto the roof and removing the cloak. For a moment he scanned the shadows for Remus. Then, with a wave of his wand, he sent the invisibility cloak dancing gracefully back down for him.

"Did you see Sirius?" Remus demanded, yanking the cloak off as soon as he too had scrambled up to the tiles. "Rabastan isn't there."

"I couldn't see either of them, but Reggie told you he was there, right? So he's there somewhere. If Rabastan has him somewhere quiet, he's just made our job much easier. I'm trying to decide if we should wait till it's dark and they're asleep."

"No." Remus said, simply. James laughed.

"Sirius will have probably escaped by the time we get to him." He pointed out. "You of all people should know what he's like. I should be helping my wife and you should be at home grovelling to yours."

~o0o~

Sirius had not escaped, although he was doing his best. Rabastan was beyond furious, having lost the proper use of his legs and been infected with Remus' lycanthropy. On the plus side, he was so furious that he was hopefully going to do something stupid, and Sirius was going to get the chance to kill him, preferably before Remus realised about the biting. It would be like Remus to be upset about turning a Death Eater into a Werewolf.

Sirius was able to contemplate such things because he was currently alone. Rabastan clearly didn't want Voldemort-possessed Lily, Bellatrix or Regulus, to know Sirius was in the house. So he'd dumped Sirius in his own bedroom, drawing the curtains and locking the door, before vanishing downstairs to finally answer Voldemort's summons. Dearly Sirius hoped Rabastan was now getting crucio'd to within an inch of his life.

Sadly, this was unlikely as if it wasn't for bad luck, Sirius' life would have held no luck at all. He had rolled off his bed some time ago and was currently trying to find something to break the ropes holding his wrists. As Rabastan had charmed them solid, the only think he'd torn so far was his own skin. The blood did not make his wrists slick enough to tug free. It just made every tug more painful; a horrible forerunner of the pain he was going to be in if he didn't get the ropes off before Rabastan returned.

.

Just as Rabastan had predicted, the Dark Lord did not have enough followers to risk injuring them. It was also unlikely that he'd planned to home the remaining shards of his broken soul in a small red haired woman. He didn't permit that to be known though, lording over Grimmauld Place like some weird Queen; with Bellatrix and the bound mad woman, at his feet.

Rabastan kept half an eye on his sister-in-law, but she never took her gaze off the returned Voldemort. He was forced to wait, pretending he was listening, while imaging the hell he was about to inflict on Sirius.

.

By the time Remus and James managed to get down the narrow chimney, Rabastan was again gone from the lower levels of the house. On the plus side, the Death Eaters were now donning masks and cloaks, in preparation for an attack on Azkaban. Only the three women remained unmasked; an eerie trinity, each of them quite insane in their own unique way.

.

With a wave of the Elder wand, James enveloped them both in masks and cloaks. They split up to search the house, with increasing frustration for any sign of Sirius or Rabastan.

Unsuccessful, James stopped again, watching his wife talking with Voldemort's strange high voice; her face transformed by the soul puppeteering her body, and her weird blood-shot eyes. Bellatrix, who never left her side, snapped angrily at him, for lingering, then laughed when the frail woman beside her leapt away in fear.

.

On Sirius' bedroom door, the spells were pretty much unbreakable from the outside. Every spell Remus cast rebounded on him. Even given time and an empty house, he would have struggled to break through. There was no sound from inside but it was the only door that Remus couldn't get through. Ironically, these were reactivated spells that a teenage Sirius must had once used to keep himself safe from his family.

Remus hurried back down the stairs, aware that the Death Eaters were getting ready to leave and time was running short. Turning quickly away from Lily, James followed Remus to the blocked door.

They puzzled it for a moment before James brandished the Elder Wand against the painted surface.

"Whatever spell you try," Remus said, quietly, watching the corridor for him. "It will bounce it back at you. So be careful. What are you going to try?"

"_This_." James said, and belted the door with as much energy as he could. They were both thrown the full length of the hall, the explosion silencing the bustle in the rest of the house.

.

Regulus called something into the hush, then the click of heels brought Bellatrix suddenly onto the top floor. James lunged forward, snatching Remus' mouth and looping the invisibility cloak around them both.

Regulus and Bellatrix both glanced the length of the corridor, before Regulus gestured silently to Sirius' door and Bellatrix raised a white fist to hammer angrily upon it, yelling for her brother-in-law to remove the spells and let them in.

Glaring bitterly, Rabastan opened the door enough to let them both inside before slamming it, a sudden flare of pale light sealing it closed once more.

Beneath the cloak, James rolled the Elder Wand in his fingers, wracking his brain for anything they could do to get into the room. But every spell that hit the door was deflected back at its caster. The Death Eaters in the rooms below them were clearly leaving, and Sirius was trapped in a room with his own little brother, at the mercy of Rabastan and Bellatrix. It was beyond horrific, and neither James or Remus knew what to do.


	96. Chapter 96

Harry headed nervously, but determinedly, out of St Mungo's. He half expected Molly or James to run after him, ordering him back to the ward. But no such thing happened, and he reached Ginny, Ron and Hermione, in the same side street they had once abducted Ministry workers and disguise themselves with polyjuice.

It was weird how much older they all now looked; especially Ginny, who actually looked shockingly like a young slim Molly, now. For some reason Harry had always imagined she might look like his mum; until he'd actually seen his mum in the flesh. Ginny looking like Lily or Molly, he decided, was equally disturbing thoughts, and he dismissed them from his mind, hurrying into a quiet enough place to disapparate without attracting Muggle attention.

With no idea where Lily or Alice Longbottom were, they had decided to return to the Riddle graveyard, to search for clues. Neville, Luna and the twins were already there; the few DA members who'd been able and determined enough to slip out of the hospital.

The mud was churned up, and fresh foot prints suggested people and elves had been back since the battle, but the graveyard was abandoned to bird song and the buzz of bees now.

The day was growing hot and Harry was frustrated. He had no idea where his mum could be. By mid-day, arguments were already starting to break out, and Hermione announcing that she would send a letter to Regulus appeared to be the last straw for Ron's somewhat limited patience. All four Weasley's launched into a blazing row with Hermione, something Harry felt obliged to enter into. Luna took Neville away, to sit on an abandoned grave, talking quietly about their absent mothers.

~o0o~

At Twelve Grimmauld Place, Sirius was still stuck in his childhood bedroom, trying to avoid being brutally murdered.

He was actually trying to goad Rabastan into some, as yet unplanned, rash act. Anything that might allow him to get his hands free. Sirius was also praying for a knock to the door, to give him at moments reprieve to recover his composure while Rabastan was downstairs. He was astonished when for a moment his prayers appeared to have been answered.

But clearly God hated him as much as ever.

The Death Eater grudgingly opened the door, stepped back not to leave but to invite another person into the room.

Sirius knew to expect Bellatrix or the possessed Lily. He hoped for Voldemort, who could possibly be reasoned with, because Bellatrix was just a crazy sadist.

Probably the only thing he hadn't prepared for was Reggie.

Sirius' eighteen year old brother stared at him with wide frightened eyes, as he followed Bellatrix into the room. To Rabastan's surprise, and glee, Sirius groaned; struggling for the first time against the bonds that held him restrained on the faded carpet, and turning his face to the wall.

"What do you want, Bella?" Rabastan demanded, pulling his eyes away from this thrilling sight.

"To watch." Bella said, simply. "And to make his brother watch. I want to see what side he's really on."

"I don't want to watch." Regulus said, sounding sick with horror. Sirius yanked at his wrists again, violently tearing open the skin on his wrists.

"You're here to watch, little cousin." Bellatrix assured him. "Do something to him, Rabastan."

"My pleasure." Rabastan assured her, ficking his wand lazily for a moment before turning back to Sirius.

.

"Stuperfy!" Bellatrix snarled, hitting Rabastan in the back.

"Crucio!" Regulus cast, keeping the spell on the Death Eater's back as the stunning-spell threw him across the room. "...So, how is that for acting, Siri?" He asked, lips returned to a thin smile as he stepped around his brother and, with eyes colder than shards of ice, he cast the torture curse again, ripping into Rabastan's crumpled body.

.

"I'm so sorry." Bellatrix said, her face morphing and changing into something elfin and pretty, topped with a lot of candyfloss pink hair.

"_Tonks?"_ Sirius exclaimed, wriggling his hands free as she sliced at the bewitched rope.

"Yes. I am so sorry, Sirius!" Tonks cried, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him crushingly tight. "I'm sorry. Thank you for doing this. Thank you for saving Teddy! It was so brave and I'm sorry. My parents are dead, Sirius. They're both dead. You're all the family me and Teddy have left now. And I'm so sorry and grateful to you."

"Really?" Regulus asked, sitting on the window ledge, long legs crossed, wand dangling lazily over Rabastan's slumped body, as he watched Tonks crushing Sirius against her and sobbing, a lot. "All the family you have left? What am I, Dora, hired help?"

"Both of you." Tonks assured him, reaching out to tug at Regulus' arm, although he wrinkled his nose and stepped politely out of the way.

"We need to get out of here." He reminded them. "And I assume you want to do the honours here, brother?" He asked, tossing Sirius the wand and booting Rabastan onto his back.

"_I_ want to do the honours." Tonks assured them, scrambling back to her feet. "He went into their home and murdered my parents and took he took my baby."

.

Sirius went over to the barely conscious Death Eater, taking his wand off the carpet and passing Regulus back his own. "No trial for you, Rab." He told him, softly.

"Good." Rabastan hissed at him. "Don't want to go back to Azkaban."

"I'm an auror." Tonks said, lowering her wand slightly.

"Yeah." Sirius agreed. "And Reggie's a Death Eater."

"But this is family business." Regulus pointed out. "It stays in this room. But you don't have to watch, if you don't want to, Dora."

"He killed my parents." Tonks reiterated. "I want to do more than watch. I want to go first." And she leveled her wand on the Death Eaters pale face.


	97. Chapter 97

**AN: Sorry about the sudden lack of chapters. I got stuck :(**

**~o0o~**

"The love in the room is making me slightly nauseous now." Regulus informed them, listening intently at the door. "Only The Noble and Ancient Blacks count 'murder' as a loving family-time activity."

"I'm a Lupin." Tonks reminded him. "How many Death Eaters do you think are left down there?"

"Enough to make it exceedingly unwise to hang around," Regulus assured her. "Sure you alright, Siri? You looked like you rather 'lost your cool' for a minute back there."

"I'm perfectly fine." Sirius stated, giving Rabastan one final glance before stepping over him and using the dead Death Eaters wand to release the door.

~o0o~

"You see!" James exclaimed, in absolute outrage. "You see, Remus! He is _always_ fine! You drag me away from rescuing my wife, who is in genuine danger…!" Remus brushed him off, hurrying to make sure Sirius was actually fine. Pale faced and slightly muscle locked nothing really suggest he was. Like the bad old times.

"Prongs!" Sirius laughed, his face lighting up as he squeezed past them all to catch hold of his best friend. "You're back!"

"And you're _fine_." James pointed out, through gritted teeth. "_As usual_."

"Thanks to us, Potter." Regulus said.

"I came to help." Tonks added, to her husband. "It seemed like the right thing to do, in retrospect. Moody's got Teddy, so he's quite safe."

"So maybe we can focus on my wife now?" James suggested and shook out his invisibility cloak.

With Sirius pressed against his back and the Invisibility Cloak thrown over his shoulders, James moved silently down the stairs. Tonks, morphing into the image of the dead Rabastan, followed with Regulus at her side. Remus brought up the rear, undisguised, protecting them all, as they crept down to the brightly lit kitchen.

~o0o~

In the muddy graveyard, Ron and Hermione were still arguing. Fred, George and Ginny, who had no business getting involved, were still holloring at the tops of their voices. Harry's head was banging. Where was his Dad, when he needed him? Where was Sirius? Where was Snape, even?

.

_Where was Snape_, Harry wondered. He was sure that his Potions Master had never intended for Lily to become a Horcrux. He'd just wanted to save her, no matter what the cost. Right now the cost was looking pretty high. But where _was_ Snape and what was he doing? Did he know what had happened? Maybe he knew some way to save her?

But Harry thought it was more likely that no one knew how to save her, at all. Maybe his mum was beyond salvation.

As Harry watched his friends yelling at each other, a plan started to form in his mind. What he needed was someone who knew about dark magic; about things like Horcruxes. He didn't need a half-blood, like Snape. He needed someone who'd been born into magical lore; the dark kind. He needed to speak, he was suddenly certain, to Draco Malfoy.

.

Draco's father was in Azkaban. His mother, who was credited with playing her part in saving his life and Voldemort's defeat, had been spared prison. She had donated a lot of money to The Ministry and spoken very publically about how excellent it was that Voldemort had been defeated. Harry had no idea if she really felt like that, but he was running out of ideas. Leaving the Riddle graveyard, and the arguing Weasleys, he disapparated back to Diagon Alley, walked swiftly into the Leaky Cauldron and ignoring a number of startled comments and greetings, he threw a handful of Floo powder onto the fire, cried 'Draco Malfoy' and a moment later he was spun up, around, across, and out of a second fire place. He landed with a crash at his own mother's feet.

.

Harry was in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.

Draco and Narcissa Malfoy were in Grimmauld Place's kitchen.

So was Bellatrix Lestrange and a pale and injured Alice Longbottom.

Most importantly, here was his own missing mother.

.

Harry fumbling for his dislodged glasses and stood up, staring at the surprised faces as they reappeared in focus.

~o0o~

Beneath the invisibility cloak James cursed audibly. Sirius vanished into the form of the black bear-sized dog and Regulus and Tonks, still in her disguise, hurried quickly into the room.


	98. Chapter 98

**AN: Sorry about the extra notification. I managed to delete the entire chapter because I am an idiot.**

~o0o~

Alice Longbottom's pale face changed as she saw Rabastan Lestrange in the kitchen doorway. Her eyes widened and a low moan escaped her lips. And suddenly her fingers fluttered over her wasted abdomen, with frantic repetitive movements. Harry couldn't imagine what she was searching her belly for, only that it was clearly something long-ago stolen from her; and Rabastan's arrival had reminded her of it's terrible loss. Harry forced his eyes off her and, as no-one moved to stop him, drew his wand.

.

'Harry Potter', his mother stated. The voice was unmistakable; high and emotionless. Voldemort's voice.

Harry struggled to keep his raised wand steady, staring at her misshapen face as he frantically he wracked his brain for a spell that would attack Voldemort, without hurting her.

Lily's lips curled into a wide, open-mouthed leer as Voldemort watched the teenage boy, until joy overwhelmed him and his triumphant laughter filled the kitchen.

"Silence!" He ordered. Bellatrix stifled her own laughter, leaving Alice's whimpering the only sound in the narrow kitchen; her bony hands fluttering over and over the torn hospital gown, her eyes fixed on the Death Eater, Rabastan Lestrange.

Lily's green eyes, mirrors of Harry's own, watched him, the pathetic woman at her feet and the Death Eaters.

.

"Get out of my mothers body," Harry said, tightening his grip on the wand.

"There is nothing I'd like more," Voldemort told him. "Perhaps the great Harry Potter has come to offer his body in exchange for this weak Mudblood creature's?"

"_Yes_." Harry said.

The green eyes blinked at him. "_Yes_." Harry said again. "If you leave my mother without hurting her."

"Of course." Bellatrix laughed.

"_Silence_!" Lily's small mouth seemed to stretch painfully wide as Voldemort's words roared out of it. "I was waiting for your father to come here." He added to Harry, after a moment. "He has united the Deathly Hallows. He is the heir of the Peverells."

"I'm their heir." Harry pointed out, firmly. "If he is then I am. I'm his son."

"You want to die?" Voldemort stared at him, from his mothers disfigured face.

Harry didn't want to die but there wasn't time for a plan. Voldemort was _inside_ his mother, twisting her body about like a ragdoll. There was nothing he wouldn't do to save her.

"You want to sacrifice yourself to save your mother." Voldemort's high-pitched laugh interrupted him. Bellatrix laughing at Lily's side, and huddled at the two women's feet, still clutching her empty belly, Alice Longbottom joined in, a confused girlish giggling that made the two women towering over her laugh the harder.

.

"Be silent." Voldemort warned abruptly. Lily's small female hand clamped down on Alice's shoulder. "That is pathetic of you, Harry." He stated. "And unfortunately for your, it is not your father's body that I want. It is what he possesses; the united Deathly Hallows." The green eyes roamed across the room, until they rested on Regulus and Rabastan, at the foot of the stairs. "The Deathly Hallows, Harry," he said, rather softly. "If you deliver the Deathly Hallows and Walburga's son to me, you shall have your mother back with you, for all time."

"What?" Bellatrix demanded, looking for all the world like a disappointed child. "We have _Harry Potter_! We can't let him go, My Lord."

"He means less than nothing to me." Voldemort dismissed it, with a sneer. "_Neither one can live while the other survives?_ Well here I am, Harry Potter. I have conquered death. I am victorious. I have survived, again. You mean nothing to me. Fetch The Deathly Hallows and Walburga's son for me and throw yourself on my mercy."

"Yes." Harry said, firmly. "I will. I'll get you the Deathly Hallows and Walburga's son, if you will leave my mother's body, without hurting her."

"I shall be glad to leave her pathetic body, and you will show your gratitude for my mercy," Voldemort sneered at him. Bellatrix laughed again, and Harry, who didn't even know who Walburga and her son were, nodded.

He was, after all, standing in Grimmauld Place's kitchen, surrounded by Voldemort and half a dozen Death Eaters. Voldemort was inside Lily; inside his mother's body. The pale trembling form of Alice Longbottom was slumped at her feet, the insane woman's hands fluttered desperately over her stomach, as she wept and stared at the doorway where Regulus Black and Rabastan Lestrange stood; her torturer and the Death Eater who was trying to kill Sirius.

.

And then Harry noticed something unbelievable.

.

Almost invisible, on the dark stairwell, the shadows had eyes; two unmistakable silver eyes. As he stared, the shadows betrayed the black silhouette of Sirius' animagus.

Following his gaze, Bellatrix swung around, lifting her wand with a cry of rage. The black dog flung itself between Harry and the Death Eaters. And Harry swung his wand at Bellatrix, terrified of loosing Sirius again.

.

The room exploded. Hexes were flung in every direction. Protego shields sent the spells rebounding on their casters. Plaster was blown off the walls and crashed down off the ceiling.

Harry could barely see his own swiping wand, as he sent spells into the chaos. Regulus Black appeared to his right yanking him clear of a sudden explosion, Remus Lupin sung past him, dueling with Bellatrix down the length of the kitchen table.

Harry couldn't see his mum anywhere. He couldn't see Sirius, or his black dog. The room was so full of smoke and dust, it was choking him, and all he could hear were Alice's terrified screams, louder than the roar of the magic.

.

Diving blindly through the choking cloud, Harry searched for Neville's mum, following her ear-splitting screams until he was suddenly stumbling over the injured woman and the Death Eater who had tortured her into insanity.

Forgetting for a moment that he even had a wand, Harry launched himself at Rabastan, his fists smashing into the other man's face with such force that they were both flung down onto the floor. Scrabbling free, Harry forced the tip of his wand onto the other man's chest and, for the second time in his life, cast the Unforgivable Cruciatus Curse. His mind burned with hatred and the energy exploded out of his wand in a violent blue explosion; for Neville, for himself, for Alice and Frank, for Sirius, for Alice.

.

Harry dropped the wand. Strong hands holding his shoulders. His body felt leaden, still filled with anger, fear and now revulsion.

The smoke was being sucked away and it was his father, James, who's arms were supporting him.

Remus, and on his heels an alive and human Sirius, came down the staircase, apparently having seen off the Death Eaters. The kitchen was empty; quiet. The dust hovered in the air, bitter tasting on his lips, cloying to his sweaty skin.

.

Slowly, beneath Harry's gaze, the unconscious Death Eater at his feet changed, the black hair became a pale silky pink and a moment later the thin chest, bruised by the tip of Harry's wand, became soft and feminine, and Harry recognised that it was Tonks.

He had used the Cruciatus Curse on Tonks.

.

A moment later, Remus reached them, thrusting Harry aside and pulling his wife's limp body up into his arms.


	99. Chapter 99

"Oh my God, Harry!" James exploded. "I cannot believe this" I specifically told you to stay at The Burrow! You are the most disobedient child, _ever_! What part of 'stay with Molly' didn't you understand?"

"_Really,_ Prongs?" Sirius flopped down on the floor next to Remus, checking the pulse on Tonks' limp wrist. "She's just passed out, Moony. And if we count eighteen year olds as 'children', Prongs, the 'most disobedient child ever' title would belong to you. Harry is like your angelic little brother."

"Speaking of little brothers…" James said, tartly.  
"Reggie is helping," Sirius dismissed it, at once. "He won't let Lily out of his sight. Give Remus a hand with Tonks, Prongs. We should get out of here."

"She's not alright!" Harry managed finally, trying to stop Remus and James from hauling Tonks casually to her feet. "I hurt her. I didn't know. She looked just like Rabastan Lestrange!"

"Did you know that Dora got the highest mark _ever_ for the auror practical disguises exam?" James said, rather proudly.

"Of course I know that," Remus snapped. "She's a metamorphmagus... Tonks, wake up…"

"She told _me_." James said, with a grin that broadened under Remus' frown. "I think she was trying to impress me, Moony. She's fine." He added. "Padfoot would know if she wasn't."

"Yes, she is fine." Sirius agreed. "But we should get out of here."

"She's not fine," Harry said, frantically trying to be calm.

"Yes, she is. Up you come, Dora!" James cried, throwing Tonk's floppy arm over his shoulder and lifting her up into his arms. "I'm afraid I've stolen your wife, Moony." He added, with a laugh.

"What did you do to her, Harry?" Remus asked, attempting to sound calmer than he felt.

"I thought she was Rabastan." Harry stammered, sweat forming on his palms, as he watched his father carelessly carrying Tonks across the room in his arms. She looked smaller and rather vulnerable, flopped limply against his chest. "…I hurt her." He said, again. "She was trying to get Alice Longbottom up. I thought that she was Rabastan… I used the Cruciatus Curse."

.

"_You did what_?" James sunk down onto his knees, laying Tonks as slowly as he could back onto the floor. "You did _what_, Harry!?" He shouted. "_An unforgivable torture curse!?_"

"Rabastan was a big fan of torture," Sirius pointed out. He sounded reasonably calmly, although he had just removed his top and was rolling it carefully into some sort of pillow-like neck support.

"_You used dark magic,_" James cried, absolutely furious. His hand shook as he snatched the cloth off Sirius and as carefully as possible eased it beneath Tonks' neck. "_My_ _son_."

"He was upset, James." Sirius said, calmly. "The amount of times I've used Fiendfyre when I've lost my temper..."

"That's you," James snapped, yanking Harry's wand out of his hand and confiscating it, before using his own, the Elder Wand, to cast some sort of gentle magic over Tonk's still unconscious body. "_My son_… I am disgusted, Harry."

"Prongs, we used a torture curse on Burtram Aurbry." Sirius pointed out.

"A head swelling hex isn't torture," James snapped, carefully examining Tonks' floppy limbs. "It's just painful and frightening. Illegal does not make a curse 'dark magic'."

"_Shut up,_" Remus snaped. "Please, James."

"I'll carry her, in-case there's trouble." James decided, and ignoring Remus he eased her with extreme care off the floor again, carefully cradling her floppy head against his chest.

A clump of candy floss pink fell away at the nape of her neck and floated down to the ground. All four men watched it for a moment before James took the Elder Wand in his free hand, and gestured for Sirius and Remus to go ahead, taking either side of the corridor. "…And you stay behind my back, Harry." He ordered, without looking round at him.

"Alright, I will," Harry said, "but give me my wand back."

James didn't, but as he had his arms full of Elder wand and Tonks, Harry plucked it out of his pocket and followed his father up to Grimmauld Place's hallway and out into the sunny street.

.

There were no Death Eaters waiting for them and in a side street, where Remus and James could support Tonks and keep her as still as possible, they disapparated back to Remus' one room cottage in the woods.

As they were flung into the room Tonks eyes opened and she screamed out in pain. Harry watched his father and Remus trying to lay her down on the dirty hearth rug, her muscles seized up and stiff. More clumps of pink hair fell away from her head, tangling between Remus' fingers.

.

Quickly, Harry let himself outside, scanning the trees for Death Eater's to attack; but the woods were empty, the woodshed burnt to the ground and the fire long gone.

Harry stayed against the wall, taking slow breaths and listening to the birds singing in the trees and Tonks' hissed breaths and cries of pain, in the room behind him, feeling like a monster.

.

"She'll be fine." Sirius said, letting himself outside. "The Cruciatus Curse doesn't cause any physical damage, Harry. It just hurts… A lot."

"Her hair fell out." Harry said, studying the trees, hard.

"She's a metamorphmagus," Sirius reminded him. "They do things like that. Their physical appearance reflects their emotions. It might have happened anyway. She was already upset."

"Why?" Harry asked. Sirius studied the trees as well, with his pale eyes.

"Because her parents were murdered last night." He said. "And Rabastan Lestrange took Teddy from their house. He's safe now."

"I was sure she was Rabastan," Harry told his Godfather, again. "We have to get the Timeturner back, so we can save Andromeda, and Ted, and my mum, and Alice Longbottom. I'll be able to go back and stop myself hurting Tonks... I thought she was Rabastan."

Sirius nodded, hands dug into his pockets.

"I learned the hard way," he told Harry, "that you seldom help people by attacking the people who've hurt them."

"We have to get the Timeturner back," Harry concluded. Then he could go back and stop himself hurting Tonks. He could help her save Alice instead. He looked round at Sirius, noticing that he was still topless and that his stomach was marked with livid red bruises, presumably from fighting with the real Rabastan Lestrange. Harry took off his jumper and passed it over to his godfather, shivering slightly in his t-shirt, as he watched Sirius pull it on.

"…Alice kept clutching her stomach." He said. "She wasn't pregnant when they tortured her, was she, Sirius?"

Sirius straightened the jumper and his tangled black hair. He had stubble on his jaw and he smelt like he'd been drinking. He shrugged before meeting Harry's wide green eyes. "I don't know what they did to her." He said. "Lots of terrible things happen in wars. I've never heard anyone say that."

"She kept clutching at her stomach." Harry said again, his own hands subconsciously mimicing the gesture, as if to find some other reason. Behind their backs, Tonk cried out frantically and Harry's nails dug into his palms. "_We have to get the Timeturner back,"_ he told Sirius, desperately.

"Voldemort has taken over Lily's body," Sirius pointed out. "If the Timeturner was retrievable we'd probably all be dead already."

"We can't change what's happened?" Harry said, sounding strangely like a child, discovering for the first time that life isn't fair.

~o0o~

Tonks had been moved from the hearth rug to a Sirius' armchair. She flinched as pain spasmed around her body, but her hair was back, short and brown, and she forced a rather familiar smile for Harry, as he made himself cross the room to her.

"That was awesome," she said, before he could open his mouth. "Don't tell my boss that you beat me that easily, will you?"

"You were trying to help Alice Longbottom," Harry pointed out. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what t say."

"You don't have to say anything," Tonks said, sipping a steaming drink that James had prepared in the cauldron for her. "You think I've never hurt any of my fellow aurors by accident? You have seen how clumsy I am, haven't you Harry?"

"Yes but I thought you were Rabastan Lestrange." Harry tried to explain. "It was because of what he's done to Sirius and to you, to Alice Long..."

"I know, Harry. Stop apologising." Tonks told him, putting a cold hand over his and giving him that same, fierce smile. "I think you're awesome, Harry."

"Well, he is my son." James said, pushing the potion on her again. "Keep sipping and the pain will have gone when you open your eyes."

"Do you want Remus?" Harry asked, feeling his father was rather too helpful.

Remus had gone over to the door, voice lowered as he talked urgently to Sirius. "...They're just planning their next drinking session," James said, with a shameless snort of laughter. Harry glared at him, and stared at Dora when she too gave a throaty laugh, before cursing at the pain in her ribs.

"You did the very bad thing, Harry." James added. Harry looked back at him.

"...I know." He said. James laughed.

"Not _that!"_ He exclaimed. "The very bad thing. You lent Sirius clothing."

"I noticed you hadn't, through my haze of pain." Tonks assured him, pointedly.

"It's a well established rule." James assured her. "Clothes always looks better on Sirius, and they come back with fleas on... or chewed."

"Makes sense." Tonks agreed, watching her husband for a moment, anxiously running a hand through his greying hair. Harry noted that his jumper did look nice on Sirius, although he couldn't see why his father should care, when they had Lily to worry about, and Death Eaters to fight. "I'd let him keep it, Harry.. Harry..." She added, her eyelids suddenly drooping. James moved round the chair, waiting to catch the cup of sleeping draft as it slid from her grip. "Harry..." She opened her eyes again, gazing unfocusedly at the blurry figures and catching Harry's hand. "I want my mum," she said, and slumped into a drugged sleep.

Harry looked at her white fingers, curled over his own, and then, rather furiously, he suggested Remus should come and stay with her.


	100. Chapter 100

Severus Snape was asleep, his head slumped on his own arms; his mind lost to a blur of dreams, of Lily, Voldemort, Harry; random moments of thirty six year that his waking mind had yet to come to terms with.

An owl, and Severus knew it was an owl, was waiting on the desk in front of him. It made a low noise in its throat occasionally but it did not peck or dig it's talons into his clothes or hair. It was, after all, a well-mannered owl.

A tawny owl.

Lupin's owl.

.

Snape ignored the bird, until a sound in the corridor made him think someone might come to his room, prompting him to frantically yank loose the letter and thrust the owl unceremoniously through the window.

.

No one came into the room. Severus cleared his mind and unrolled the parchment, scanning over the familiar script before setting the letter carefully on his desk, to ignore.

.

Outside the window one of Lucius' white peacocks called to its hens but the manor house was largely silent. The peacock's master was, for the time being, still imprisoned in Azkaban; the Death Eaters were currently busy trying to rectify that. And the Dark Lord, fearful of his own safety, while precariously imprisoned in Lily's fragile body, stayed close to them.

Narcissa was here somewhere, and a house elf or two, but no one did come to disturb him. Despite the privacy, he set his expression to a mask of common distaste before lifting the letter again, to stare at its contents and seethe with impotent anger.

His hand shook as he snatched up quill and parchment, to scratch out an angry reply, not once but twice, before he was calm enough to rewrite what he actually wished to say.

Finally, he read his last draft through, to be sure he was satisfied with both the content and tone, and summoned the patient owl back into his chamber.

~o0o~

_Remus,_

_I neither wish for, nor have any interest in your feelings._

_Suffice to say, you believed I served the Dark Lord because I wished you to believe it and because you have always lacked the most basic insight into men's characters._

_While it is good to know you presence can always be relied upon, when it suits your personal circumstances, I find nothing whatsoever in your actions to suggest you have made Harry, Lily or indeed your own family's safety your priority._

_You have nothing to offer that is of any use to me._

_Severus._

~o0o~

Swinging his feet off the table, Sirius tipped his chair forward, letting the front legs hit the floor with a clack.

Asleep on the far side of the table, Remus did not stir. For a moment Sirius studied his shadowed face, resting on scarred forearms; the increasingly grey hair. Then, as calmly as he could manage, Sirius stalked around the table and snatched hold of him, yanking Remus up onto his feet.

"Explain this to me," he suggested, slamming the crumpled parchment into the werewolf's chest.

"Ouch?" Remus complained, blinking the shadowy room into focus. He located his wife, still sleeping peacefully, in Sirius' armchair; and James, in his hammock.

Harry presumably was still asleep on the mattress in the loft above them and Teddy was safe with Moody and the Weasleys. Reluctantly Remus turned his attention back to Sirius' flashing silver eyes, his clenched jaw and his blatant fury.

In the interest of avoiding physical violence, Remus resisted the urge to smile at this splendidly familiar, yet long absent, expression. Instead he tugged the crumpled parchment free from Sirius' fist, and straightened it out.

.

Coldness crept over Remus as he caught sight of the familiar hand-writing.

Exhaustion had robbed him of the sense to wait for a reply to the letter he had penned, rather too desperately, the night before. Now he read Severus' reply, under the weight of Sirius' icy glare.

His initial conclusion was that this was, thankfully, not too bad.

As he carefully folded the paper he considered his options.

"What do you need me to explain for you?" He asked, ignoring Sirius' clenched fists, one actually curled around his wand.

Sirius growled, teeth still clenched.

It was wrong that this made Remus want to smile. The violence that mocking Sirius' temper was likely to induce would be less amusing. So Remus waited, trying to look like he wasn't still just overwhelmingly astonished and grateful just to find Sirius returned from the dead, able to pout and growl like this.

.

"What 'feelings' is he talking about?" Sirius demanded, finally.

"I apologised for doubting his loyalty to Dumbledore. I died believing he had betrayed us. The comment on my lack of insight into men's characters may well be a dig at you."

"He brought Bellatrix back from the dead, to kill us!" Sirius snarled, slamming his fist on the table and causing the wand to send a crackle of yellow sparks into the room.

James fell out of his hammock. Cursing loudly and rubbing his shoulder, he limped over to the table to see what they were doing.

"Seriously ill wife, trying to sleep over there, Padfoot." He reminded, lifting Sirius' mug and peering at cold tea before taking an experimental sip. "Ghastly." He shuddered. "And can't you take your squabbles outside, like drunk Muggles do?"

"_Read it_." Sirius snarled, glaring at Remus as he shoved Severus' letter on to James and waited impatiently while his best friend read it.

.

"…Really?" James asked finally. "You were offering Snape your help?"

"No. I was suggesting that if he cared about Lily, which he claims to, we might actually be able to help her, if we worked together. I have never met another wizard as skilled in occlumancy as Snape. If Voldemort knows how his spirit can be safely separated from Lily's body, Snape's ability to read his mind could be invaluable to us."

"But Snivels doesn't want to help." James pointed out, glancing at the letter again. "He thinks 'your presence can only be relied upon, when it suits you'... Loath as I am to admit it, Remus, he has a bit of a point there. When you were teaching at Hogwarts, you spent every day with him, for a whole year. You went out of your way to spend extra time with him, to be a friend to him. Then Sirius shows up and you can't get out of his life fast enough. Not a word for over a year."

.

James frowned at him, through his glasses, waiting apparently for Remus' response.

"…Just saying." He shrugged, grinning slightly at Remus' expression. "All yours, Padfoot." He added, shoving the letter back on Sirius. "Snivels tried to murder you both. Writing to him is treachery of the highest order." And he went outside, to find the toilet.

.

"I actually want to kill you." Sirius managed, through clenched teeth.

"I thought his help might save Lily." Remus said. "And James is… _I don't even know why James said that,_ Sirius."

"Said what!?" Sirius exploded. "That you went out of your way to befriend Snivellrus?! Two lonely pathetic losers, moaning about how unfair your sorry lives are, while I'm _dying_ in Azkaban!? Dying in Grimmauld Place?! Dying in the bloody Death Chamber Veil!? How _did_ you convince Snivels to make your Wolfsbane Potion for you, Remus?"

"Dumbledore told him to." Remus said, coldly. "Dumbledore asked me to work with Severus. Dumbledore told us all to trust him."

"Well, well done then!" Sirius shouted at him. "No matter that he wanted James and baby Harry _dead_ in eighty-one, Remus? Never mind that he sent Bellatrix to kill me!"

"Both of us." Remus pointed out.

"No, _me_!" Sirius snarled; spit flying from his mouth, although he actually backed further away from Remus, as if he couldn't stand to be near him. "It was the evening of a full moon. He knew you weren't in any real danger, didn't he!?"

"Severus' occlumancy can help us." Remus stated, firmly. "I was trying to help Lily."  
"You haven't helped Lily!" Sirius exploded. "You haven't helped me! The dead don't suffer, Remus. You messed with time because _you_ weren't happy! Because you are selfish._ You brought Voldemort back_! _Look at me, you selfish bastard! Look at me and tell me that this was worth it! _Tell your wife! Tell James! …_Bloody Snivelrus_!"

Sirius spat on the floor, shoved James aside and slammed out of the hovel.

.

"…Wow." James said. "Just to clarify theone point, I was talking about …"

"_Harry_." Tonks said, at once.

"_Yes."_ James agreed. "You spent the year you taught at Hogwarts getting close to _Harry, _Remus_._ And then, not so much as a letter to him, while my poor orphaned son is being entered into the Triwizard Tournament, being used to resurrect Voldemort, fighting for his life… Just saying, that was a bit rubbish of you, seeing as I wasn't around to share my awesomeness with him."

"That was rubbish of your, Remus." Tonks concurred. "Although now we want to know exactly how you _did_ get Snivels to brew Wolfsbane potion for you."


	101. Chapter 101

**AN: Hey readers and reviewers! Thank you for letting me know what you thin :) **

**Thank you, Hule. I felt like an idiot :D**

**Molotov – I can't kill James, he is vital to the plot ;)**

**Kazo Sakamari – Regulus spends a lot of this chapter trying to give Sirius a hug – does a brotherly punch on the shoulder count?**

**Snarky **** - I was v. worried about making Snape's letter sound Snapish. Sirius is in character, I hope. I don't think it would have even occurred to him he should not read the letter. And James knows no shame ;)**

**Guests - No, no, no! I don't secretly hate Remus! I **_**LOVE**_** Remus! This is just, as top review said, 'emotions running high'. James is being funny. Harry is protective of Tonks, and Sirius shouted at Remus for multiple reasons – because he's actually feels lousy after been tortured by Rabastan, after a heavy drinking session that ended in Teddy being abducted; because he feels guilty for being alive when Andromeda and Ted are dead, and Lily is possessed, and Remus' marriage is rather messed up, and none of this would have happened if they hadn't used the time-turner; and because he can't help being glad he is alive, despite the cost, and knows Remus feels the same.**

**Nobody is perfect (except Mary Sue's and James) but most of these characters really love each other very, **_**very**_** much ;)  
**

**Please review and let me know what you think **

~o0o~

"Come to swap sides, brother?" Regulus suggested, ushering Sirius quickly into the hall and locking out the filthy weather.

"Not bloody likely." Sirius snapped, shaking rain out of his dripping hair and glaring at the strange double ended pram that cluttered up the passageway. "And you're supposed to be on our side."

"I like to keep my options open." Regulus grinned at him, waiting for Sirius' expression to darken before he laughed. "You do recall that I willingly sacrificed my own life, at the tender age of seventeen, purely to screw the Dark Lord over, don't you, Siri?"

"You're still seventeen." Sirius snapped at him, pushing past the stupid pram and his brother, and going in search of a bathroom and a towel, to dry off with. "Where are your scary twins?" He added, coming back when the house elf appeared at Regulus side with a warm fluffy towel.

"Standing behind you." Regulus nodded down the corridor, making Sirius swing round and Regulus laugh. "…There with Alecto and Amycus," he added when Sirius turned back. "I've been up all night, breaking Death Eaters out of Azkaban. Please tell me you're aware of this, Siri."

"_You _have been breaking Death Eaters out of Azkaban?" Sirius demanded.

"Yes. I considered explaining that such actions were against my principles, but then I remembered that I'm not an idiot, Siri. The Death Eaters are all out of Azkaban and _Rodolphus_ Lestrange wants to kill you. Oh, and Voldemort wants your body, if you missed that as well."

"No, I was listening to that." Sirius sighed.

"You're so well loved, Siri!" Regulus said, shoving his shoulder. "Do you want something to eat, now you're here?"

"I want Snape." Sirius snapped. "Do you know where he is, Reggie?"

"Of course I know." Regulus grinned. "He's at Malfoy Manor; probably locked in his room, trying to avoid all the emotional reunions. You won't get in there, Siri; and there are quicker and less painful ways to kill yourself than trying to. Want me to pass on a message to him?"

"No." Sirius snapped, flinging himself into a chair. "He tried to kill me."

"I know." Regulus said. "Retaliation; and only two decades after you set your pet werewolf on him."

"Oh, shut up." Sirius warned him, sinking further into the chair and scowling around the room.

"Do you want a hug?" Regulus suggested. "You look like you need a hug, Siri."

"Do you want a thump?" Sirius asked.

"Tell you what I really want?" Regulus said, getting comfy on the arm of Sirius' chair. "I'd like Ron Weasley to suffer some sort of unfortunate but fatal accident."

"Why don't you set your scary twins on him?"

"They'd eat him alive." Reggie sighed. "Anyway, we can't all just act on all our random wants, can we? I wouldn't dream of doing anything to disrupt Hermione's life. I'm just glad she's happy. I'm sure we have nothing in common really… I just think she's amazing. I like knowing she's alright. Thinking about her makes me twice as determined to stop the Dark Lord, Siri. Just so I know she'll be safe."

"You are astonishingly pathetic." Sirius assured him, heartened greatly by this.

"No, It's called self-control, Siri." Regulus laughed. "Something _you_ really wouldn't understand. And I presume Severus set Bellatrix on you primarily because he planned to have Potter's wife for himself, and you'd have tried to stop that happening."

"And now Voldemort has her." Sirius said, quietly. His pale eyes swept over Regulus for a moment. "_But he wants me_."

"Only because he's a weirdo." Regulus laughed. "And he hasn't the slightest intention of leaving Potter's wife intact, and you know it."

"I'd do it, if it would save Lily." Sirius assured him, telling Regulus because he couldn't tell James.

"It wouldn't." Regulus pointed out. "You know it wouldn't. And aside from the fact that I like having my brother back, giving yourself to the Dark Lord would make him _so much_ _harder to kill_. He doesn't want to be stuck in the body of a little Mudblood girl, Sirius. He's trying _not _to make the change permanent, that gives us an advantage. Potter won't let him get hold of the Deathly Hallows, will he?"

"No." Sirius said, and he didn't doubt it either. James was brave and clever. Not even to save Lily, would he arm Voldemort with such powerful weapons. Not that any man should have to make that choice.

.

"…Andy's dead." He said, finally. "And her husband."

"I know." Regulus sighed. "But the baby's alright and Rabastan is dead."

"Harry used the Cruciatus Curse on Dora." He added. "Her hair fell out." Regulus nodded, turning to face Sirius.

"That's not your fault." He assured him, earnestly.

"It as good as is," Sirius said, grinding his teeth for a moment before he got up. "Voldemort is back. Lily is his puppet, Andy's dead and Teddy's in danger. Everyone's lives are falling to pieces. None of this was ever meant to happen..."

"But we never _had_ lives, Sirius." Regulus interrupted him, rather firmly. "I was dead at seventeen. You were in Azkaban at twenty. The Time-turner has changed the future; some things for better and some for worse. That's real life, Siri. It's not like the worlds going to end because of this. Andy died. You didn't. Stop taking responsibility for things beyond your control. You always do it, Siri. You didn't ask to be raised from the dead. If you want to blame anyone, blame your werewolf."

"No." Sirius said. Regulus grinned at him.

"Definitely." He said. "And Snape. Although I imagine he'll wish he was never born when you've finished with him."

"It's all Snape's fault." Sirius agreed venomously.

~o0o~

Tonks was still sitting in his chair, talking to Molly Weasley and Mad-Eye Moody, who both scowled at Sirius as he slunk into the room. Clearly they were still livid about him stealing Teddy the previous week. James and Harry were sat at the table and Remus was making tea for them all. The room felt crowded and hot.

"Evening Cousin." Tonks said, adjusting the snall blue haired baby in her arms, so he could noticed as well. Teddy promptly shifted his entire appearance so that suddenly he perfectly resembled a small black puppy.

Molly clapped a hand over her mouth, screeching in fright and James abandoned his son to come over to see. "That is bloody brilliant." He exclaimed in astonishment. "It's incredible that this is hereditary. He looks exactly like a real puppy. I wonder if this would act as protection against a werewolf's bite?"

"I doubt it," Tonks said. I nearly had a heart attack, the first time he did it. Didn't I used to make myself look like an inferi when I was a toddler, Molly? I bet Teddy does that, as well?"

Remus brought over the tea, standing with Sirius while he poured.

"…Can he walk while he's like that?" James was asking, taking the puppy carefully from Tonks' lap. "It's fantastic! As a disguise, as werewolf protection… as pranking fodder."

"I'm sorry, Moony." Sirius said, simply.

"That, Padfoot." Remus assured him, "is fine." Sirius stole Remus' tea and watched him holding Teddy, tuning out the conversation, so he could plan exactly how he would deal with Snape.


	102. Chapter 102

"_Sirius, I don't care about Snape!"_ James snapped, yanking his hands out of his hair and glaring at him. _"I care about Voldemort and Lily! We're not at school anymore! Grow up!"_

"…There is no way that Voldemort meant to possess Lily's body." Tonks pointed out, zoning out the shouting and continuing to flick through one of the many books spread around James on the table. "Last time he ended up with that mess of deformity. He was handsome and charismatic when he rose to power."

"Muggle technology was growing at an astonishing rate and the old wizarding families were frightened. The time was ripe…"

Sirius tuned James out, climbing up onto the loft, where Remus was quietly readin to Teddy. He flashed Sirius a flicker of a smile, without missing a beat in his somnorific story-telling. Sirius turned into Padfoot, paced out a circle at the bottom of the mattress and curled up, tucking his nose under his paws.

.

"...It looks adorable when you do that." Sirius cracked opened one canine eye. Teddy was asleep and Remus was marking his place in the book. "Real dogs don't do that, Sirius." He added.

"Yes, they do." Sirius told him, turning back into a man and stretching out. "And I can't help it."

"I was talking to my son." Remus grinned at him. "James sounds like his usual charming self."

"He's very stressed." Sirius said, at once. "Understandably so... Reggie said Rodolphus wants to kill me."

"He can add his name to the list then, I suppose." Remus said, staring down at the room below, where James and Tonks were still at the table hacking out a plan.

Sirius wiggled up the mattress, while his back was turned, and scooped the floppy baby onto his chest.

"We have to do everything we can to help James." He told Remus, when he didn't turn back.

"We are." Remus pointed out. "I will do everything I can to stop Voldemort and… if it's possible, to help Lily. And I haven't forgotten that Snape tried to kill both of us, Sirius but…"

"_But?"_ Sirius growled. Remus studied him thoughtfully for a moment, before dropping his gaze to Teddy, slumped and dribbling onto Sirius top.

"But, not at the expense of Teddy's safety, Pads. _Never again_."

"Oh. No. _Good_." Sirius agreed. "James will understand that. He went into hiding, to keep Lily and Harry safe."

"Yes. And even if he doesn't…" Remus said, with a hint of a grin. "He'll have to get over it."

Sirius laughed, making Teddy jump and curl tiny fists into the thin jumper.

"Prongs will understand." He said, again. "We'd better go down."

"I will. But I wanted to talk to you first. It's about what we did, with the Time-turner."

"I don't want to talk about that." Sirius said, at once. "It's gone now."

"It's hypothetical." Remus promised. "The younger Weasley boys are going pretty crazy. Not many eighteen and nineteen year old boys own their own successful business, and they have survived a war and want to celebrate. I just imagine how different it would have been if Fred hadn't survived. They thought they'd lost him, and now they have him back And they've got too much time, money and fame for teenage boys.

"_What if the good things we did have millions of far reaching bad consequences, and it's only the major ones, like Voldemort returning, that we will ever be aware of?"_

_"_Molly will whip the twins into line." Sirius yawning again and kissing the baby's head. "...Maybe you go and talk to James and I'll stay here and look after Teddy." He suggested.

"Tonks told me to bring him down once he was sleeping." Remus said. "She wants him to sleep next to her chair."

"_My_ chair." Sirius said, for the sake of it. "_It's fine_." He added, unconvincingly. "I'll just sleep on the floor."

Remus didn't bother to point out that Sirius was more than capable of transfiguring something into a bed. He knelt down on the mattress as well and kissed the baby's hot pink cheeks. "Go to sleep here, Pads." He told him. "I'll be up most of the night, trying to help James."

.

James was reading a book of dark magic. Hair insanely messed up, Elder Wand tapping irritably on the table, he explored the horrific sacrificial magic that creates horcruxes and resurrects the souls trapped within them.

"Teddy's asleep?" Tonks asked at once.

"Like he's bludger struck." Remus nodded, filling mugs with tea. "Is Harry's still at the Molly and Arthurs, James?"

"Better had be." James glanced over at him. "You told him he wasn't to leave until Tonks goes to collect him tomorrow, didn't you?"

"I did." Remus agreed. "And he's with Ginny and Hermione. But Ron and the twins were at their Joke Shop. They're partying very hard."

"I'm sure they'll survive, _Professor _Lupin." Tonks said, dumping a pile of books in front of him.

"There was Firewhiskey and a lot of girls." Remus said.

"Sound's _horrible_." Tonks agreed.

James gave a snort of laughter, and pretended hard that he hadn't.

"Ron is really young." Remus pointed out. "Emorionally younger than the twins. Suddenly he's a hero, with money and alcohold and girls throwing themselves at him. I really think Molly is so grateful to have Fred returned to her that she doesn't want to ruin their happiness. In all honesty, I don't think she's being anywhere near as firm with them as she would be if you hadn't saved Fred."

"I am the Master of Death," James agreed. "I am awesome. Two sugars, Moony. We're going to be working on this all night."

"I don't think Harry had any intention of joining them," Remus said. "He's with Ginny, and Hermione was pretty upset. She's getting ready to go back to school and Ron is happy working with his brothers."

~o0o~

Harry _had_ gone to Weasley's Wizarding Weazes.

He had joined the brothers' party, in the flat above their new shop and was currently so drunk that he couldn't stand up.

Maybe it was because the punch was spiked not only with Firewhiskey but also with George and Fred's experimental Party Potion. Harry had only had a glass or two and it was nice to feel the responsibility and fear drift away from his permenantly fraught nerves.

Everything seemed funnier but also rather unreal. For a long time he was watching Hermione shouting at a very drunk Ron, her cheeks a bright blotchy red, oblivious to her audience.

Ron cackled like a senile old witch and kept trying to poke her face, enraging her further. Harry stared at them, aware of his rather fixed grin, not sure if he actually found this funny or not.

He remembered suddenly being recognised as the Saviour of the Wizarding World.

There was a very pretty girl who looked like a blond-haired Ginny and kept hugging him and telling him he was amazing.

He remembered holding the blond girls hand; taking her from room to room, looking for Ginny to tell her this amazing news - that he'd found a girl that looked just like her but blond.

He remembered walking into a bedroom where Lee Jordan and Katie Bell were kissing and then, entirely unconnected to this, he remembered throwing up uncontrollably until he thought he was going to die.

And then he didn't remember anything else at all.

He woke up because he was being sick again. As realised he was wearing just his shirt and underwear, as vomit exploded from his mouth and nose, spraying between his fingers, into the blond hair of the girl that didn't look very much like Ginny at all, in the pale light shining through the trees.

That there were trees all around him was definitely very bad.

The blond girl seemed equally horrified. She got up very fast, with vomit dripping out of her hair, and disapperated without saying anything at all.

Barefoot, Harry staggered through the familiar trees to Remus' cottage.

.

His father was asleep, _thank God;_ on the far wall.

Tonks was in the armchair and Sirius had just risen out of his animagus form, sleepy and shaggy haired. "What in Hecate's name happened to you?" He asked in astonishment.

"I drink Fred and George's potion." Harry said, his mouth felt coated in gooey saliva. "Their punch." He corrected. "With potion in. And Firewhiskey. I'm never going to drink again. Ever."

"Where are your clothes?" Sirius asked. "And shoes."

"I don't know." Harry told him. "I was with Ginny and Hermione. We went to get Ron, Fred and George. There was this girl…" His eyes widened suddenly, hearing how this sounded coming out of his mouth, which he closed with a sharp clunk.

"Was it Hermione?" Sirius asked, opptomstically. "She's always cared about you."

"No." Harry said. "It was this blond girl…" Mouth closed itself again with another 'thunk'. Harry glanced warily around the quiet room, checking for listeners, but everyone was asleep. He turned back to Sirius. "...There was a girl who looked like Ginny." He explained.

"Oh." Sirius said, apparently quite sympathetic to this problem.

"She was at the party." Harry added. "I woke up in the woods and vomited on her."

"Yeah... James is going to murder you." Sirius told him, casually conjouring up a metal tub of steaming water in front of the fire. "You were meant to stay with Molly."

"Right…" Harry stared at him for a moment, before staggering across the room and peeling off his vomit and sweat soaked shirt. "…Did you do stuff like that a lot, Sirius, when you were my age?"

Sirius blinked at him.

"Well," He said. "…No, Harry, I didn't."

"Good. You're lucky." Harry assured him, with feeling. "I am never going to drink again. I didn't _do _anything, with that girl, I mean…"

"…Whose name you don't know." Sirius interrupted, with a sudden bark of laughter. Harry glared at him.

"I don't remember anything." He said. "I don't know how I got back here. What if I'd met Death Eaters or Snatchers? It was so stupid of me."

"Have a bath." Sirius told him. "You'll feel better."

"And then I have to speak to Ginny." Harry said, wearily. "And make sure Ron and Hermione are okay. She was really angry. There were lots of girls, because of who we are. We're all famous."

"I know." Sirius agreed. "Glad you're alright, Harry." And he vanished back into the loft.

.

Harry finished removing his clothes and stepped into the hot steamy water, sitting down quickly and closing his eyes.

There were no birds singing yet. He could almost hear the silence.

And then he noticed that Tonks was sound asleep in the armchair opposite him, and practically fell out of the tub in horror.


	103. Chapter 103

"I hope it's not inconvenient to talk." Severus said. He'd been watching Remus since he'd left his hovel and seeing him swing around, looking completely caught out, was immeasurably reassuring.

"You asked me to talk to you, in your letter." Severus reminded him.

"Yes." Remus said. "…Sirius is here." He scanned the close growing trees in both directions.

"I met him first." Severus said, silkily. "He's having a little lie-down."

"What did you do?" Remus snapped but he didn't peruse it, instead glancing for a moment back at the house. Severus watched him, waiting for the werewolf's attention to return.

"Has twenty one year old Potter come up with a plan?" He suggested. "Black was perhaps on his way to hand himself to The Ministry?"

"They're corrupt." Remus said. "And right, of course. They want to destroy the Time turner, to reverse our actions and return us all to the moments of our deaths. I'm affraid I can't do that, Severus. I will not willingly leave my son again. And The Ministry has been infiltrated by Death Eaters."

"The Ministry has been given to a man who spent three vital years of the war making sure that Black stayed a free man." Severus sneered. "I'm sure your old boy network will keep him comfortable in there; if his brilliant mind can be spared from your planning meetings?"

"The Unspeakables have been infiltrated by Voldemort." Remus repeated.

"I cannot imagine why you think I am unaware of that." Severus said. "The Death Eaters are infiltrated by me, Remus. And occlumancy is the only way to get the information we need. Even if James had the stomach for torture, which I doubt, he wouldn't be able to force information from the Dark Lord while he's possessing Lily's body. He'd just worm and burrow deeper inside her, leaving her nerve endings to appreciate the experience."

"We could kill her." Remus said, coldly. Severus' lips quirked into a narrow smile.

"The fragment of soul would lodge itself in someone else." He said, at once. "Like Quirrell, like the baby. She is still a horcrux because he doesn't want to be trapped in her body. I am willing to help you, Remus, because we want the same outcome. Can I suggest you gratefully accept what you are being offered. I am positioned at the Dark Lord's side while you are hiding in the woods with a group of children."

"James has united the Deathly Hallows." Remus said.

Severus' lip curled again.

"You say that like it's a good thing." He said, drily. "James is still twenty one. About the same age as your wife? And I don't recall his contribution to the 'Greater Good' ever turning out to be very 'great' in the last war.

"Harry and his friends are children and James has obliviated half Black's brain; and when you have that little mental capacity to start with…"

"Sirius and James were _both _brilliant." Remus snapped. "And _no one_ came close to what Sirius did in the first wizarding war. _No one_."

"And yet he spent the second war hiding in his mother's house, giving dangerous and inappropriate presents to other people's children and demanding the constant attention of better men than…"

.

"_Stuporfy_!" Sirius snarled, swinging his wand in an arc so the curse spun Severus backwards until he collided with one of the trees.

"_Levicorpus!_" Sirius corrected himself, spinning the other man upside down and dangling him above their heads. "_What dangerous and inappropriate presents!?"_ He snarled.

Remus eyed him warily.

Severus hung, unconscious and swinging slightly in the breeze.

Remus said nothing, very certain that his own wand was too deeply buried in his pocket.

Sirius's eyes were still following the unconscious man's limp body, flicking his wand to rag it about. A shoe slipped loose of one of Severus' feet and fell, bouncing onto the ground.

Sirius' lip twitched with angry amusement.

.

"...I have no idea, Sirius." Remus said, calmly. "You never give me any presents, dangerous and inappropriate or otherwise... And the two-way mirror could have saved your life, if Harry had remembered it …and kept all those children out of the Death Chamber." Sirius said nothing, eyes narrowed, teeth gritted together. "...That lock-picking knife might have been a bit stupid." Remus pressed on. "...but the house, vaults of gold, and the hereditary serving house elf were lovely… presents _anyone_ would have appreciated."

Sirius's eyebrows quirked minutely while he remained fiercely jaw-locked. "…And what thirteen year old boy doesn't want the fastest most dangerous broom money can buy?"

"_He meant the owl for Ron_." Sirius snapped finally, before biting his mouth closed again and flicking his wand to make Severus's limp body hit a tree trunk and tumble, branch by branch, to crash on the ground.

"Well…" Remus ventured, "there is an unwritten rule about not buying pets for other people's children. …Or signing parental consent forms for other people's children."

Sirius ignored him, looking at the small slumped body; black clothes and blacker hair, an arm bent unnaturally beneath his back; blood on his face.

.

"I'm going to kill him." He growled.

"He knows how to save Lily." Remus said, calmly. He watched Sirius's pale eyes, as he blinked. "…He knows how to save Lily and he knows how to stop Voldemort," he stated. "And he was on our side, all along."

"_He was on his own side_!" Sirius exploded. "_All along! All along, Remus! He told Voldemort that he had to kill Harry. He told Dumbledore to let James and Harry die in eighty one_!"

"Yes, and he tried to kill us." Remus agreed.

Sirius glared at him. He swept his hair out of his eyes and looking back at Severus's crumpled body, again.

"...So, if you want to." Remus said, calmly. "If you need to do it… then kill him. And then I will come with you and we can explain to James why we can't use Snape to save Lily."

Sirius's lips quirked into a furious smile.

"This is where I back down, isn't it?" He laughed. "Give way to your calm common sense, Remus. But we don't need him. I succeed because of the quality of my conviction, not because I asked for help from scum. I don't need his help."

"You _didn't_ succeed. You_ died_." Remus snapped. "After twelve years rotting in Azkaban without a trial, Sirius. It was cool headed men who won the war; bastards who chose not to give you a trial. But they won because they had the sense to keep people who could help them on their side."

"_No._" Sirius said. "_No_. Harry won the war. James did.

"Voldemort was beaten the very moment Lily chose to die to keep her baby alive. _For the last enemy that shall be defeated_, Remus, _is death_. Oh, and just so you know, I killed Rabastan because _you_ made him a Werewolf. You contaminated him with your infected bite, and I didn't want you to have to find out, to live knowing you'd done that."

"..._What?"_ Remus stammered. Sirius laughed, and then furiously turned the wand on Snape's slumped body and sent it spinning across the forest floor with a string of dark curses.


	104. Chapter 104

"Protego!" Harry screamed. "Protego! …_Protego!" Forcing himself to be calm he focused on the spell, making the shield charm umbrella over the potion master's slumped body. "Sirius!" He screeched, furiously. _"Stop!"

"Why should I?" Sirius roared at him, stalked across the grass and yanked Harry physically out of the way.

"Because he doesn't even have his wand out!" Harry exploded, ripping his arm free of Sirius' grip. "Because he's unconscious! Because you're not… You're worse than Vernon!"

"He wanted you to be handed over to the Dark Lord as a _baby_." Sirius snarled. "_Do what you want!_" And he stalked off through the trees, flinging his wand at Remus' chest as he passed him.

.

Remus splinted and bandaged Snape's arm with the same spell he'd used five years before on Ron. Harry watched in silence, before helping stretcher him back to the little cottage.

Raucous laughter hit them as Harry pulled open the door. "…_so I turned back into myself and watched him run out of the cellar, crying like a little girl!_" Tonks finished, tears streaking her own cheeks she was laughing so hard.

"Moony!" James cried. "We thought you'd sneaked off to get drunk again! …Where did you find Sni-pe?"

"_Snipe_!" Tonks laughed. "More of a crow, surely. What have you done to him, Lupin?"

"Sirius attacked him." Harry said, panting slightly as he helped Remus lay Snape down on the rug. "I don't know why…" He looked up at Remus, who'd already gone to his own supplies for a healing potion. "He was unarmed and unconscious."

"He knocked Sirius out." Remus said, kneeling down and checking Snape over for injuries. "He came around and retaliated. I don't think he's seriously injured, just ragged about a bit."

"I'm biting back a 'more's the pity'." Tonks assured him. "He made my life a living hell when I was at school."

"And set Bellatrix on your husband less than a month ago." James reminded her. "Shall I fix his arm then?"

"I was going to," Tonks said, wand already out. "You get to be a dab hand at healing spells when you're as clumsy as me."

"You get to be a dab hand at healing spells after sharing a dorm with your husband for seven years." James assured her.

"Go on then," Tonks offered. "You do it. You probably need all the practice with the Elder Wand you can get."

"I am the Master of Death." James reminded her with a broad grin. "And I am naturally gifted."

"According to your mother." Tonks scoffed. James laughed, sweeping the wand and snapping Severus' am back into its correct position.

"My mother knew genius when she saw it." He agreed.

"Is he going to be alright?" Harry asked.

"Sadly." James said. "Maybe 'aguamenti' to wake him up. But first, perhaps you'd like to explain why you aren't waiting to be picked up from Molly and Arthurs."

Harry drew his attention off the unconscious man at their feet, new memories of the night before suddenly flooding his mind. "I'm not a child." He pointed out, fiercely.

"And I picked him up." Remus added. "Early this morning. The Weasley boys threw a bit of a party. Looked quite 'lively'. I could take you back to pick up your things, Harry. I need to track Sirius down and make sure he stays out of sight."

"What about Snape?" Harry asked, uncertainly.

"He wants to help." Remus said. "If we can get hold of Lily, Severus may be able to get Voldemort out of her. Come on, Harry."

"And you can take, Teddy." Tonks told him. "Molly wants to look after him, and he'll be up all night if you let him sleep all day."

"Oh, God, I remember when Harry used to do that." James groaned. "All night. Grinning at me like he knew I had to be up at six."

"Being an auror and a parent is so hard." Tonks agreed, coming over to give her baby a kiss before Remus whisked him quickly outside.

.

"…Thanks." Harry said, finally. Remus didn't disapparate out of the wood, so Harry assumed they were looking for Sirius. On Remus' shoulder, Teddy woke up and grinned gummily at Harry, chewing his fist. "…Did Sirius tell you?"

"That you went to a party, got drunk, and woke up half naked in the middle of a wood."

"With a girl." Harry said. "...who wasn't Ginny."

"Yes." Remus said, mildly. "It's not my place to tell you, Harry, but I do hope you will think before doing anything so reckless again."

"I'm never going to do that again, _ever_." Harry assured him, with a shudder. He had genuinely thought he was going to die, and his stomach and throat still hurt from vomiting so hard. He watched Remus carrying his happy son through the trees for a moment, not sure how to explain. He was pretty certain Remus had never done anything so stupid when he was young. "…Sirius said he never did anything that stupid." He added. And much as Harry loved Sirius he suspected that when you did stupider things than a teenage Sirius, a very bad line had been crossed. Remus, he noticed, was grinning.

"Indeed. Tea-total since birth." He said, adjusting Teddy onto his other shoulder and searching his pockets for a stick of liquorice root for Teddy to chew on. "He told me that as well."

"Was that a lie?" Harry asked. He didn't actually think of Sirius lying, ever, even about things like that.

"No." Remus said. "His adoptive mother died in '77 his brother and father were murdered in '79. The Ministry was in disarray. Every week there was news of more deaths, more torturing. Terror everywhere. Panic; confusion. It wasn't the party everyone seems to imagine."

"My teens weren't great either." Harry reminded him.

"No." Remus agreed. "But if we manage to do nothing else, we're going to make sure that your future turns out better than ours. You and your friends, Harry. I'll find Sirius. You hop over to The Burrow. I expect everyone was worse for wear."

"Right." Harry braced himself. "I will. I didn't actually do anything, you know."

"I'm sure you didn't, Harry." Remus agreed. "Take as long as you want. I need to speak to Sirius. I really do believe that Severus is the best hope we have of rescuing your mother.


	105. Chapter 105

Remus had chosen to live in the abandoned woodsman's cottage because the river flowed broad and fast around the woods edge, creating a near perfect loop; a natural barrier between the woodland and the wider world, and one the Werewolf did not willing cross.

Without Wolfsbane Potion, or anyone to provide first aid after the lonely full moons, there was a good possibility he would have fatally injured himself, without this wood to run in.

As it had been when Remus was alone, it had been a sanctuary for Sirius when he had been recovering from Azkaban. He was reasonably certain that Sirius wouldn't have left it just now; certain not only because of how well they knew each other but also because Sirius had nowhere else to go. His brother was with Voldemort, The Ministry of Magic had reinstated the 10,000 galleon price on his head and the Death Eaters wanted to hand him over to Voldemort.

Despite this it was well into the morning when he finally found Sirius sitting on the river bank, gazing into its murky depths.

"…So." Remus said, adjusting Teddy into his lap, as he sat down. "You're a hard man to track down."

"No one asked you to look for me." Sirius said, eyes still on the water. "I can't remember half my life, Remus." He added. "I'm meant to be dead. You're meant to be happy…" He sighed heavily, looking over at Teddy, perched on Remus' lap and catching one of the baby's small chubby hands.

"I'm not." Remus said.

The river eddied and swirled.

Teddy tried unsuccessfully to pull himself up on Sirius' single offered hand.

He overbalanced.

Sirius laughed.

"What an ungrateful git you are, Moony." He said, finally. "With your beautiful twenty year old wife!"

"I know." Remus said. His smile accentuated the lines around his eyes, without quite reaching them. "…Twenty five." He corrected. "And she is very beautiful, Sirius. sometimes I see her smile in Teddy', and her scowl."

"The Blacks are all exceptionally beautiful." Sirius said, leaning over him to pull the baby into his own arms, hugging him. "And your son is exceptionally awesome."

Remus gave him another unconvincing smile.

"Yes." He agreed. "…Not that looks matters, Sirius. I, of all people, know that."

"Technically marrying a near teenage metamorphmagus could suggest a very shallow and superficial streak, that I have always suspected you to have." Sirius pointed out.

"She's clever." Remus said. "And I love how hard she fought to complete her Auror training; she's fierce but sweet; stubborn, ridiculously idealistic. She's very brave and loyal."

Sirius didn't say anything, playing with Teddy's chubby hands. "She never deserved me… _Not the lycanthrope_," he interrupted as soon as Sirius reflexively opened his mouth. "Although, also that. I got her pregnant and then I left her, less than a month after we'd married. And she forgave me, wholeheartedly. She came to Hogwarts to fight and die at my side."

"Marvelous." Sirius agreed, sardonically. "Shame she wasn't so ready to 'not-fight and survive' at Teddy's side."

"Well, she's impulsive and fearless." Remus said, with a hint of amusement. "I've heard it said that you get better results focusing on what you wants to happen, rather than dwelling on all the things that could go wrong. And she's funny, Sirius," he added, "clever, self-effacing… It is unforgivable to make her this unhappy."

Sirius nodded, worrying a scabbed-over split that Rabastan Lestrange had left on his bottom lip. "...Bloody well shouldn't do it then, should you!" He suggested, brightly.

Remus nodded, watching Teddy tug at Sirius' hands, trying to clap them together.

"...Teddy's getting big." He said, instead. "…And I know I shouldn't. I really know. And I do love her. I think she's lovely. She's a wonderful person but," he shrugged, "but she isn't you…"

"_I see where you're going with this."_ Sirius interrupted him, swinging the baby into his arms as he stood up. "You're problem, Messr Moony, is that you've been on your own for too long. You've become too used to doing everything your own way; getting set in your ways, just pleasing yourself."

"No, it isn't." Remus said.

"Yes, it is." Sirius said and laughed in his face. "I am always right, Moony. You just listed a dozen things you adore about her and besides, you're not a couple, you're a family." He thrust Teddy back into Remus' arms.

Remus didn't take him.

He gave Sirius a cool smile.

"Severus is going to help us." He said. "Because he can help Lily. That's what I actually came to tell you."

"Great." Sirius took Teddy back into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Splendid. I just love working with people who try and kill me and my Godson."

"Good." Remus said, turning and walking swiftly back into the trees.

Sirius watched him for a moment, rubbing his jaw into the baby's silky black hair, before following back to the cabin.


	106. Chapter 106

"Excellent, you're back!" James cried, snatching Teddy off Sirius and thrusting him at his mother. "We have a plan! Are you feeling brave and slightly suicidal?"

"'_Always'_." Sirius said. Severus, once again conscious and sitting straight backed at the table looked over at him with black-eyed contempt. Sirius smirked at him. "...Even after all this time." He added.

"Excellent!" James said. "So, here's the plan..."

"It's a brilliant plan." Tonks added, kissing Teddy quickly and returning him to her husband, so she could come back to the table.

"Why, _thank you, Dora_." James assured her with a broad grin. "My brains, Severus's… cunning? And you're nerves of steel, Sirius… It was partially Dora's idea. But mostly mine."

"Brilliant minds think alike?" Dora suggested with a snort of laughter.

"Exactly!" James agreed. "We're not just exceptionally pretty faces, are we, Dora?"

"So, _the plan, James_…" She urged, nudging him in the ribs.

"Righty!" James cried, turning back to find Sirius in the room.

"What are you doing, James?" Sirius asked him, unamused as his eyes ran from Tonks to James and back again.

"I am telling you the plan." James reminded him. "Voldemort, rather shallowly, wants your body. And Severus is certain that the Dark Lord is fighting to _prevent_ himself being reborn in Lily's body. So, if we can deliver you to him, he should be capable of leaving her body, unharmed, to try and take up permanent residence in you. That will be the deal. We get Lily back, unharmed, and he gets you."

"_What sort of a plan is that_?" Remus demanded, in disbelief.

"That's fine." Sirius assured him. "Is that it?"

"It would be hilarious if it was." Tonks pointed out. "But no. They'll have to go through the whole spell again, with the cauldron and the bones of thy father etc. And Severus is sure he will be able to use leglimency to see exactly how Voldemort tries to bond his soul to your body. Then, with that information, he will be able to reverse it, destroying Voldemort and saving you."

"It's brilliant." James offered. "…Obviously it's not ideal. Ideal would be just waving the Elder Wand and everyone being saved, but even I can't do that… I didn't think there was any way to save Lily... My _wife, _Sirius."

He fell silent, watching Sirius considering this. "Obviously, I'll do everything in my power to save you." He added. "That should go without saying. You are my brother, Sirius, not by blood but by choice."

"Of course I'll do it." Sirius said. "So, have you practiced?"

"How would we practice, Black?" Snape spoke up, finally. "Leglimency against an Occlumancer as skillful as the Dark Lord is not easily…"

"Fiendfyre." Sirius interrupted him, still looking at James. "Have you practiced casting Fiendfyre with the Elder Wand? Presumably that is your back up plan."

"You cast Fiendfyre with the Elder Wand without difficulty." James reminded him. "…But yes. I haven't yet but I'll make sure I can. If the Dark Lord is successfully reborn in your body, he'll die a human death, by my wand. But it won't come to that. We'll stop him. If we didn't think it would work, we wouldn't consider doing it."

"_That isn't a plan!_" Remus said. "_That is_…"

"Shut up." Sirius warned him. "Do you have a better idea?"

"I'd struggle to come up with a worse idea!" Remus said, angrily enough to make the baby in his arms burst into tears. Tonks' and Sirius knocked into each other, moving to take Teddy from him.

"_Right_." Sirius said, with forced brightness. "I'm going to make sure I've seen Reggie. The plan's fine, James."

"It'll work." James promised him. "My plans always work, Pads."

"_You died at twenty one!_" Remus snarled, lifting Teddy free as Tonks' tried to take the baby from him.

"Well, now you're just being hurtful." James pointed out, unoffended. "That was a miscalculation that has clearly been corrected. We're all alive now and you are _very_ welcome to come up with a better plan, Remus. I and your much underappreciated genius of a wife, have knocked together something that can actually work, and Sirius is fine with it, aren't you, Sirius?"

"I'm fine with it." Sirius agreed. "I just want to see my brother."

"He's with the Dark Lord." Snape said, failing entirely to hide his smirk. "You'll only put Regulus in more danger, Black." He watched Sirius bristling for a moment, before rising out of the chair and with a shamelessly genuine smile, he let himself back out into the woods.


	107. Chapter 107

**AN: Thank you for reviews **** It may be shallow of me, but I really love getting them.**

**Guests: Yes – to both ;)**

**Hermione-granger54321: Thank you for all the nice things you said **** I do find James hardest to write. And in this story, I wanted to show how all the characters relationships are messed up because they messed with time.**

**Emilia: I think this about Sirius' relationship with James and with Remus too. Although in cannon JKR actually describes Sirius as walking behind/following Remus. (In fandom Sirius usually bounces ahead of everyone ;)**

**Molotov: Lol the Gleeful dance! I know the pinned down by babies and pets problem, very well, **** and I'm glad you liked this. I thought I might get some very cross reviews for doing that.**

**Anna: He was definitely trying to tell him. **

**Kazo Sakimari: You are cool with James' plan!? Also… **_**I wrote that (unfinished) story about when Hermione goes back in time and the prophecy changing so it's about Arc - that you reviewed.**_** And I was so shamelessly thrilled that you'd reviewed it. You are the **_**only**_** person who has ever reviewed on both my old and new pen-names.**

**Snarky64: But James has such a good plan!**

**Jo: Thank you for reviewing. I also agree with Remus that this plan is dodgy. I'm not sure he was really the brains of the Marauders in cannon. Sirius and James that were the top students in their year.**

**~o0o~**

Harry let the door hit the wall with a bang. Grimacing at the volume of Teddy's howls, he squeezed past them all and, muttering that he was going to lie down, scrambling up the loft ladder.

James drew his eyes off his son's vanishing feet and caught his best friend in a fierce hug. "Pads, You are ace and brave and all that. I won't let Voldemort's soul have off with you," he swore.

"It's a good plan." Sirius dismissed it. James thumped him on the back.

"Bravo! I'll make it work." He said, again. "Come and talk to Harry with me, Pads. He looks like a wet weekend."

"I'm fine." Harry snapped, as soon as James appeared at the top of the ladder. "You wouldn't understand."

"I doubt that. I'm very understanding." James assured him. "I am _The Master of Death,_ Harry." He tried hard to repress a broad grin, moving up into the loft, to make room for Sirius.

Harry, hunched up on the mattress and studied him with borderline contempt.

"…Ginny has dumped me." He said, finally.

"Oh, great!" Sirius said. "Because that was like dating a small Molly Weasley."

"And you are fit to give relationship advice, how?" James asked him. "Buck up, Harry! It'll be fine! We'll make her get back together with you."

"I don't want advice from either of you." Harry said. "I don't want to talk about it, at all."

"Of course you do!" James told him. "If you don't have to fight for a girl, she's not worth having."

"How would that even make sense?" Harry demanded. "Ginny has always liked me."

"She has?" Sirius asked.

"_Yes._" Harry said. "She has. I never had to _fight_ for her. She had a couple of other boyfriends…"

"Slag." James interrupted him.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"…She went out with a couple of people, but she always loved me." He explained calmly. "She's loved me since we met on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, when I was just eleven."

"Oh. I didn't know that." Sirius admitted. "You have loved each other since you were eleven? That's... that's really nice."

"That's not nice! It's really _creepy_." James said, with a shudder. "The only thing you should want to do to girls, when you're eleven, is stick spiders down their necks and pull their hair."

"And this is why I don't want to talk to you." Harry assured him.

"_I_ am helping." James said. "You're think I'm unhelpful because you were raised by _Vernon and Tuney _(God help you). But you're a _wizard,_ Harry. Wizards take relationships much more seriously than Muggles. Wizards stick with their first loves. We've all been to school together and most of us are related. We don't swap partners, like Muggles do. So, if you want Ginny, we'll get Ginny! And don't listen to Pads. You'd get more sense taking relationship advice from an actual dog. Besides, I don't think he's ever met a witch he wasn't related to. Sucks to be you, Pads!"

"My mother." Harry suggested. "Hermione."

"Yes! _I said Hermione too!"_ James cried. "Hermione isn't related to you, Sirius! I said that as well, didn't I?"

"I like to pretend that you didn't." Sirius told him. "And it'll be alright, Harry."

"It won't though, will it?" Harry pointed out. "_I've ruined my life!_ I bet this is another thing we've messed up with the Time-turner. I bet I was meant to be with Ginny forever and now our whole future is ruined. I just know it. I can't imagine not being with her. _I love her_!"

"Maybe you will… get over it?" Sirius suggested, doubtfully.

"No, he'll win her back!" James cried. "We won't let her get away that easily!"

"She _has_ already got away." Harry told him. "And she's not some fairground prize, to be won. Also, _no_, Sirius, I am not going to 'get over' her, either. It's like I always knew I was meant to be with her. The Weasley's are practically my family, as well.

"We've changed the future, I know we have. Things we didn't even know were going to happen, aren't going to happen, because we've messed everything up."

"_I_ am your family." James assured him. "And Pads is. We have a plan to rescue your mother, as well. And if Ginny's worth fighting for, we'll get her back, whether she wants us to or not."

"Well, I have been practicing my Imperio Curse." Harry stated, sarcastically.

"That's funny." James assured him. "But there is nothing I don't know about winning girls over. Your mother hated me for years. And I really mean _hated_ me. But it's like you and Ginny. I just knew we were meant to be together, so I thought 'bugger what she thinks' and bullied her into it."

"Yeah, that's… horrible?" Harry suggested. James and Sirius both laughed.

"All's fair in love and war." James pointed out. "If she's the only girl for you, then 'no' definitely doesn't mean 'no'. And you're lucky that I know that, or you wouldn't exist."

.

After they'd gone back down the ladder; _and thank God they had gone,_ Harry used a cleaning spell on the mattress; an idea apparently foreign to all the 'adults' he was surrounded by, and lay down, gazing at the rafters and feeling outraged at how unfair his life was… His rubbish childhood, then his teens spent fighting Voldemort, and now one night of alcohol and _not_ doing anything with that stupid blond girl and his whole life was over; _ruined_. He'd just moved on, to feeling embarrassingly sad about his mum, when Sirius returned with two bottles of pumpkin juice.

.

"It will be alright." Sirius told him, _still_ sounding utterly unconvincing.

"There's nothing alright about it." Harry snapped. "She hates me and she's not the sort of girl that you can _make_ do _anything_."

"James will bully her into it." Sirius reassured him.

"Why would that possibly be a good thing!?" Harry demanded.

There was a lull in James and Dora's flirty conversation, beneath them. "And why is my dad _flirting_ with Dora, if he's so sad about my mum?!" He added, angrily.

"We can _hear you, _you know, Harry?!" James yelled back. "Remus' hovel has only _one room_!"

"And we're just talking!" Tonks called up. "It's amazing to hear all the incredible things your Dad did in the First War, Harry!"

"_When she was a baby_." Harry said, quietly. "And didn't my dad spend the war hiding in his house?"

"He faced Voldemort three times." Sirius said, loyally. "Like the Prophecy said. Straight out of school we fought against Voldemort. After the prophecy he did everything he could to keep your mum, and eventually you, safe."

"Yeah, he's _the best."_ Harry agreed. "It's a shame he's spent all evening chatting up his friend's wife. Is Remus even down there?"

"Maybe if you were a bit more like him, you'd be fighting to get your own girlfriend back, instead of sitting up here, feeling sorry for yourself." Sirius snapped.

"Yeah, or maybe I'd think 'sod my girlfriend' and find someone half my age to flirt with!" Harry cried, angrily.

"That's hardly James' fault." Sirius said.

"Whatever." Harry snapped. "I'm actually quite busy at the moment, Sirius."

"James and Dora have come up with a plan to rescue Lily." Sirius told him. "But I wanted to talk to you about it."

"I just want to be on my own." Harry said. "Unless they actually want my help with the plan, I want some time on my own. My girlfriend, who I love - Sirius, has just dumped me."

"I'll let you be then," Sirius said. "I do need to see Reggie as well, beforehand. I got you a present."

"A congratulations on getting dumped, present?" Harry suggested, with dry humour.

"No," Sirius said, finishing in his pocket. "Just because you're my Godson and I always meant for you to have it." He produced a set of motorbike keys; his motorbike's keys; for his flying motorbike and chucked them over.

"Are you serious?" Harry stammered. Sirius laughed.

"That's the funniest thing you've said all day." He said; ducked the rafters and swung himself back down the ladder.


	108. Chapter 108

**AN: I was on holiday :D but there was no internet :( Sorry about the gap in posting chapters.**

~o0o~

Reggie, Sirius was glad to see, now had proper wards protecting his house. Sirius chose not to knock on the front door. He told himself that this was to avoid putting his brother in danger, as the house was being watched, but primarily it was to avoid the scary Lestrange twins, who might answer the his knock.

So he changed into Padfoot, as grateful as always that the canine-mind seemed blissfully unable to focus on anything but its present situation, which was his little brother and the maze of unfamiliar corridors and rooms.

Silently, like death incarnate, he padded through the house until he heard voices. Not the voices he was expecting, but the familiar bossy lecturing of Hermione Granger.

In fact, Hermione currently sounded neither bossy nor lecturing, that was just what he expected of her. Hermione sounded tired, worried, and just a tiny bit bossy.

He could hear his brother, talking so very earnestly to her. Reggie sounded impossibly serious and sweet; although he was probably just trying to catch a glimpse down her shirt, or something equally smutty, knowing Reggie.

The black dog let out a rather irritable huff and settled in the corridor, its nose resting on its front paws as it listened to the human voices mingling together. After a while he wandering back through the house, in search of the Lestrange twins, but they appeared to be gone, presumably back with their mother and Amycus.

.

When he got back to the house in the woods, Remus was sitting alone in Sirius' armchair, reading. The loft space above was quiet enough for Sirius to be unsure if Harry was asleep there, but James and Dora were definitely absent.

Resisting the impulse to turn back into a dog, Sirius pulled up one of the wooden chairs from the table. Remus marked his place in the book, closing it with undue care before he gave Sirius his attention.

"How was Reggie?" He asked with the most impressively false brightness Sirius had heard from him in a long time.

Sirius' lip twitched, and for a moment he fought to compose the muscles in his face, then burst out laughing.

Remus ignored this, maintaining a patient smile.

"...I'm going to die tomorrow!" Sirius snapped finally, when he could control his mirth. "Is this what I have to put up with, from you? _Twenty four hours of false politeness?!_" And suddenly he found himself moving rapidly from hysteria to blazing anger.

"You didn't stay long with Reggie." Remus ventured. "I hope he wasn't too worried… And I thought you, at least, had every confidence in James's plan," he added, finally.

"_Of course I have_!" Sirius said, furiously. "_Every confidence that it's the right thing to do! Every confidence that it'll get Lily back! Which is what it's meant to do! I am not meant to be here, Remus!_"

"By that argument neither is Lily." Remus pointed out. "Are any of us?"

"You_ are_ meant to be here." Sirius assured him. "I know you are. You would never have died if I hadn't brought James back. I know it. We changed everything and now, now, no one knows what's meant to have happen and what isn't. But I know I'm not meant to be here. _I know it_."

"I've talked to Severus." Remus said, watching him, unflinchingly. "And he _will_ do everything he can to help you."

_"Why? Will you kill him if he doesn't?"_ Sirius asked, savagely.

Remus said nothing. He didn't even bother to change the subject; only studied Sirius with something that looked to Sirius like a mixture of pity and contempt. "...Did you threaten him?" Sirius added, glaring back; growing angrier and angrier. _"Did you tell him you'd torture the life out of him, if he lets Voldemort take over my body? Will you kill him?"_

He swung away, stalking about the room like a caged animal.

He had no idea at what point he'd even kicked away the wooden chair and started yelling in Remus' face.

"…Where's Harry?" He demanded finally. "You didn't look out for him properly when I went through The Veil."

"I did what I thought gave him the best chance of staying alive." Remus said, although he didn't think he'd done enough. As at so many times in his life, he felt he hadn't managed to do enough. "I should have done more." He said, to himself as well as to Sirius, pacing angrily around the small cabin. "And when he was younger, living with his relatives, I should have…"

"_Shut up_, Remus!" Sirius exploded, swinging back over to the armchair.

"You were in prison." Remus continued. "And James was dead. I should have, I really do wish I had done more."

"You didn't." Sirius snapped. "And for me, that's enough. I know you. I know that if you didn't do more, there was a good enough reason. "

"I wish I had your faith in me." Remus said, slightly ruefully. He swept his greying hair out of his eyes and stood up, snatching hold of Sirius finally to stop him pacing about.

"_Sirius_." He said, holding him still. "Sirius… Severus is my friend. We lived and worked together in Hogwarts for twelve months. We have been corresponding all evening about James' plan."

"_Have you_." Sirius growled, knocking Remus' hands off him. "…_Isn't that splendid_."

"I am trying to keep you alive." Remus assured him. "I don't like James' plan, Sirius. He is still young and reckless and he hasn't thought this through."

"Good." Sirius assured him. "That's how his plans work best. James knows what he's doing. He's a genius."

"There's loyalty and then there is stupidity, Sirius." Remus snapped. "Haven't I lost you enough times, now? I have lost everything…"

"You have lost _nothing!_" Sirius shouted, angrily. "_Nothing_, Remus! You have a wife! A son! You are a war hero! Your so brave and decent that even a twat like Snape can't help respecting and liking you! What the hell do you think you have lost!? I didn't die in a Veil! I was already dead in Azkaban, Remus! All that was left of me was the instinct to protect James' son from Peter and Voldemort."

"That isn't true." Remus swore. "You beat Azkaban, Sirius. You beat twelve years of daily torture from Dementors. You can't even remember, because James obliviated your memory."

"_James told me!_" Sirius insisted, furiously. "He told me, so I know! I trust him, I trust his plan…" He glared at Remus for a moment before snatching a parchment, rolled and sealed, from his pocket. "This is for Regulus." He said, angrily. "See he gets it."

"Did you speak to him?" Remus put the parchment carefully in his tatty robe.

"I couldn't. He was busy. And I didn't want to disturb him." Sirius snapped. "…Happy." He corrected, when Remus tried to argue even about this. "He was happy and I didn't want to."

"Right." Remus said. "Good… What do you want to do?"

"Where's James?" Sirius asked, at once. Remus gave him a slightly forced smile.

"He wants to make sure his plan is 'fool-proof'." He said. "He asked not to be disturbed… I could get Teddy, if you wanted."

"I just want to get drunk." Sirius said, looking at Remus with the air of a petulant child. He smiled at whatever victory he saw in Remus' unhappy gaze. "Has Harry gone to talk to Ginny?"

"Yes." Remus said, getting up to both, locate a bottle of Firewhiskey and to break open a tiny purple phial of Dreamless Sleep Potion that Severus had sent with the owl.

Sirius watched his turned back for a moment before stealing his place on the armchair. He was waiting for Remus to argue that a hangover wouldn't help him defeat the Dark Lord in a battle of souls, but Remus brought the glasses back without a word.

"…Molly will make Harry and Ginny get married." Sirius pointed out, drinking the Firewhiskey quickly. "So it will be fine, if that's what he wants."

"He said you gave him your motorbike." Remus told him. "It cheered him up a lot."

"I always meant for him to have it." Sirius pointed out. "Why would I have wanted Hagrid to have my motorcycle?"

"You didn't mean to fall through The Veil." Remus told him, instead. "You wanted to live."

"No, I wanted to look after Harry." Sirius corrected him. "James told me, Remus… Because I am his Godfather. I swore to James then, if anything happened to him and Lily... But now, James is back, Moony. You're married, Harry's happy, Reggie is safe... And Teddy is… Teddy is…" Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, before taking another mouthful of Firewhiskey and letting the tumbler slip from his fingers.

His eyelids flicked open for a moment as the glass smashed on the floor. "Kreacher…" He muttered, irritably. "…clean up this mess."

A moment later he slumped, completely unconscious against the arm of the chair. Remus stood up, stepping quickly over the broken shards and tripping on the suddenly appeared house elf.

"Go away, Kreacher." He snapped. "I'll deal with it later."

"I don't take orders from you, Halfbreed." Kreacher croaked, smugly. "Master Sirius wishes the floor to be cleaned... Rotten excuse for a son and a brother, though he is..." He added to himself as he wandered off across the room to fetch a dustpan and brush.

Snatching up his wand and cloak, Remus side stepped the mess and the elf, and flooed into central London to get hold of James.


	109. Chapter 109

.

James and Dora were sitting together in the office that James had once called his own, which was now scattered with Dora's files and pictures of Teddy. They were talking quietly as Remus stalked into the room, both looking dismal and exhausted.

Ignoring the fact that her husband had walked into the room, Dora suddenly perked up, swooping across the desk to fiercely embrace James, before kissing his forehead and assuring him that they would get his wife back, at any cost.

.

"Your plan is horrendous." Remus informed James, calmly. "It isn't even a plan. It's a hostage exchange. Sirius doesn't intend to stop Voldemort possessing him. And how would he possibly be able to, against magic as ancient and powerful as a spell to re-home a spirit of the dead?"

"Great. You've come up with a better plan." Tonks suggested.

"I've been speaking to Severus." Remus said. "He doesn't believe Sirius has any hope of stopping himself being possessed, James."

"And yet I bet Snape still wants to do it." James pointed out. "Are we suddenly meant to be big fans of Snape's opinion?"

"Severus believes you probably will be able to destroy Voldemort for good." Remus told him. "But not without trapping him in Sirius' body."

James nodded, considering this, rather thoughtfully.

"So," he said. "_Severus_ believes we will be able to stop Lord Voldemort being reborn? We will stop Voldemort destroying the Wizarding and Muggle world and protect our children. We can undo the damage that _he_ caused by rescuing Voldemort, along with Lily? Yes?

"Snape also believes that Lily can be saved and Voldemort destroyed? _I assume_, he comprehends that we have only a narrow opportunity to do all this, before Voldemort has a true body again and grows too powerful to stop? And that we have been _gifted_ with a tool to do all this, because Voldemort wants the body to be Sirius'?"

He smiled thoughtfully at Remus' expression, before pushing his glasses up his nose and continuing, "...I have spent my entire adult life fighting a war against Voldemort. I am a soldier and most usefully a planner.

"I have watched my friends and family die; I have stood and faced Voldemort _five times_, Remus, and I have made plenty of harder decisions than this one." James assured him. "My whole life has been this war, and I assure you, _I assure you, _Remus_,_ that if Voldemort had wanted my body, I wouldn't have hesitated.

"_This isn't about rescuing my wife. This is about stopping Voldemort and taking responsibility for our careless actions_.

"I asked you to trust me but I feel like I'm talking to a child, Remus; how I have to speak to Harry. Would you honestly not sacrifice yourself to stop Voldemort being reborn? Why do you expect a man as brave and selfless as Sirius not to do this?"

For a moment Remus was silent, the anger rather knocked out of him. He was very physically aware that all emotion had been replaced with an emptiness that reminded him of motion sickness.

"You don't expect Sirius to survive." He concluded; the obvious. "That's why you told him all that rubbish about him only wanting to live long enough to make Harry safe for you."

"Of course it is." James agreed; surprised that Remus should even need to ask. "Do you think I, and your_ impossibly-decent_ wife, are sitting here, working on our already finished plan? I am here ignoring my personal desire to commandeer Sirius, for these few hours before we go to face Voldemort.

"To be honest, Remus, I don't doubt for a moment that Sirius wanted to spend as much time with me as possible; having a laugh, getting drunk. But clearly you, Regulus and even Harry, also need a part of that time. So I, _and your unbelievably-patient wife, Remus_, are humouring _you; _we aregiving you time together. So why, Remus, aren't you there, cheering him up? Why are you here, complaining to me?"

~o0o~

"I don't suppose you have any idea what this is, Herm?" Regulus asked, turning a cracked black stone uncertainly in his hand. Hermione, who had been gazing out of the window, trying to bring her life into some semblance of order, looked down at the stone lying in his palm, her eyes widening in astonishment.

"It's the Resurrection Stone." She exclaimed. "It's one of the three Deathly Hallows. Where did you get it, Reg?"

"Kreacher just brought it to me." Regulus said, turning the stone thoughtfully again. "…Second brother," he added, considering. "He summoned his lost love and killed himself to be with her. Us second brothers are awfully casual about ending out lives, aren't we… Kreacher got it off Sirius. Isn't that bizarre."

"You turn it over three times, while thinking of your lost loved ones, and they'll appear." Hermione told him. "Professor Dumbledore gave it to Harry inside a Golden Snitch... You could speak to them, Reg... to your parents."

Regulus looked up at her, in surprise. "The second brother killed himself, Herm." He said. "The Hallows are cursed objects. 'Death' pretended to offer each brother a gift, intending to lead them to their deaths."

He smiled at Hermione's immediately doubtful expression. It was an impossibly nice expression and he very much had to resisted the urge to reach out and touch it; not the expression, maybe just the strands of hair that escaped from behind her ear.

He was increasingly plagued with ridiculous thoughts like this. It didn't help that Hermione had arrived bitterly upset, going over and over some disasterous drunken party, where Ron had upset her terribly.

.

"…Well, I hardly think Professor Dumbledore would have given Harry something evil." Hermione pointed out. "The Elder Wand _is_ perceived to be cursed, Reg, but in fact Dumbledore won the Elder Wand it in his duel against Gellert Grindlewald. He used it for many years without it causing him any misadventure."

"The Hallows are cursed objects." Regulus stated again. "The dead cease to exist. Only a Muggle would believe they are off living in their own heavenly country…" He froze, cheeks paling rather than flushing. "Not a Muggle, I mean." He said, carefully. "…I'm sorry, Hermione.." He cleared his throat, grey eyes lowered.

Hermione considered this in silence.

She'd often suspected that Regulus edited insulting Muggle-bashing language out of his speech, but it still sounded ghastly to hear.

"Personally I do believe in heaven, Regulus." She said, finally. "And I assume Sirius does as well, as he's Harry's '_God_'father."

"Yes. Right... I am very sorry." He assured her. "I don't know what to say… As I understand it," He ventured, "Death pretended to offer each brother a gift; a gift Death intended to lure the user to his doom. Which the ring does. That is its only purpose and that is the moral of the story - You can't defeat Death. You can't fight or trick Death. You can only hide, for a short while, like the third brother. ...Here," he added, lifting the stone again. "Whop it out of my hand, if I start looking likely to hang myself to join my loved ones, Herm." And he rolled it quickly, three times in his palm, and looked up, his pupils dilating in astonishment.

Hermione checked the empty doorway, before touching Regulus' hand. "What can you see, Reg?" She asked, anxiously.

"…My mother." Regulus said, softly. "…And my father. They are telling me they love me."

Hermione looked carefully over the room, but she could see nothing of Regulus' vision. She watched him reach out a pale hand, eyes wide and daunted. "…They are telling me that they are real." He added. "They look real… but younger and happier."

"That's what Harry said..." Hermione told him, quietly.

"_I love you_." Regulus interrupted her. Hermione looked up, deeply shocked, before she realised that he was talking to his long dead parents.

Hermione quietly backed up to her seat at his desk, listening to the confused, one-sided conversation, until Regulus dropped the stone abruptly onto the floor.

He stooped slowly to retrieve it, before looking up at her with wide tortured eyes.

"Quicker than falling asleep." He said, softly, before he focused on her frightened face and forcing a rueful smile, that was actually very reassuring. He swept his unruly dark hair out of his eyes and looked down at the stone again. "...Dying, is." He clarified. "My mother said it was easy, 'quicker than falling asleep'. And how brave I'd been to swap the Horcrux necklace. How she ached to be apart from me. That I was so close to being with her again… You'd better take it." He interrupted himself, clearing his throat and straightening his slightly ruffled clothes.

"Don't… you know, don't mess with it thought, will you, Herm?" He added. "Promise me, maybe, if you wouldnt mind, not to use it."

"You honestly think that it's evil?" Hermione asked him, although his washed out expression was really answer enough. "And James gave it to Sirius..." She added, thoughtfully. "Although in a way that's good, Reg."

"It definitely is." Reg agreed, the familiar rueful grin returned. "Potter is awfully fond of being 'The Master of Death', isn't he? And Siri is an ideal candidate to look after the Resurrection Stone. It can't be much of a threat to someone who's already resurrected all his dead loved ones. I imagine that's why Potter gave it to him."

"Yes, I guess that's why." Hermione agreed.


	110. Chapter 110

Sirius was asleep, draped across his armchair. He looked peaceful.

He wasn't really asleep, of course. He was still sedated by the sleeping draft Remus had slipped into his drink the night before.

He hadn't intended to rouse Sirius, not until he'd had time to make James see sense. But James' explanation of his plan had made more than enough sense, and so Remus had returned to the one room house in the woods, to watch Sirius continue to sleep, as the hours of the night ticked by.

Remus was actually thinking about a very young Sirius, sleeping in their dormitory; when they had been genuinely little little boys, barely eleven years old.

Sirius, so unbelievably young, and in repose looking even younger, like a picture book illustration... after days spent teasing and relentlessly hounding teary little Peter.

The real monster amongst them…

He wished they had killed Peter, when they'd captured him in the Shrieking Shack.

Exhausted, in the early hours of this morning, Remus' whole life seemed like a catalogue of things he wished he had or hadn't done.

Sirius did look all of thirty four now. There was more masculinity in his face and less fullness in his lips, a slightly coarser quality to his skin. He was still skinny and his hair needed cutting.

He still looked exactly the same.

He always looked the same.

Flung across the chair he also looked disturbingly like Padfoot.

He still looked like that angelic eleven year old child; who cried himself to sleep for a home he didn't even like, and battered anyone stupid enough to acknowledge his late night tears.

He still looked like the lanky thirteen year old, who genuinely hadn't cared that Remus was a monster and had unhesitatingly loved him regardless.

...And like the fifteen year old who had spent two years of his life mastering the ability to turn into a dog, on the off chance that it would alleviate his suffering.

...And the ungodly-beautiful twenty-one year old, who had believed Remus capable of turning to Voldemort;

...And the emaciated shell of that boy, who had clawed himself free after twelve years in Azkaban;

...to forgive him, without a moment's hesitation, for believing Sirius capable of murderer and treachery.

...to forgive him for leaving Sirius to more than a decade of mental and emotional daily torture, without trial or justice.

.

"…You do know that I'm awake and watching you, don't you?" Sirius said finally, his lips quirking into a shameless smirk; a sliver of pupil sparkling through his eyelashes.

"I'm sorry," Remus said, "for more than I can say."

He cleared his throat, and his expression. He smiled before standing up. Using his wand to set the kettle to boil.

.

"...You are so shockingly maudalin, Lupin." Sirius said, yawning widely and stretching up against the back of his chair. "…Does he call you 'Lupin'?" He added. "I can rather imagine that..."

He affected an almost flawless imitation of Snape's distinctive accent to add, in mockery of the other man's voice, "_Will you please desist from using my first name, Lupin. You make me rather uncomfortable…_ _Why are you so maudalin, Lupin_?" He repeated, still playing with the accent. "…_Where has everyone gone, Lupin?_" He wrinkled his lip and nose, trying out different sneers as he repeated himself.

"Harry never came back from the Weasley's. Which is a good thing, I presume." Remus told him. "And I'm sure James isn't still working on his plan. Why don't you call him through the floo and demand his presence, Pads."

He looked round to flash Sirius another smile, before swirling the tealeaves and water in the teapot. "…And, of course; all teachers call each other by their surnames, absolutely all of the time, Black."

Sirius paused, mid-yawn, considering. "...Yeah." He agreed. "I will floo James… I didn't mean to go to sleep like that."

"I know." Remus smiled calmly, bringing him a mug of tea.

"We were going to get drunk." Sirius reminded him. "And I wanted to. _You're much more fun, when you're drunk, Lupin._ Why did we never get Snivels really dangerously drunk when we were at school, Moony? That would have been hilarious."

"For my part, basic human decency stopped me." Remus said. "And I imagine it just didn't occur to you, at the time." Sirius nodded, resting his head back and lazily running his fingers over the chairs faded brown fabric, smiling faintly at the cruel images in his head and sipping his tea.

"Why don't I get James?" Remus suggested.

"Because I'm going to floo him, when I've finished my tea." Sirius reminded him. "Was he inordinately grateful to you?"

"Who? Severus?" Remus asked, drawing his eyes away from the faint freckling of tealeaves floating on the top of Sirius' mug.

He didn't believe in fortune telling.

He was just grasping at straws.

The brown flecks looked like nothing more than freckles floating aimlessly.

"…No. I was grateful to Severus for making the Wolfsbane Potion, every month, for twelve months. And covering my lessons for me over the full moons."

He watched Sirius' eyes narrowing, crossly.

He was certain now that Sirius was going to die; that each change in expression was something he was never going to see again; that for a moment he would see Voldemort's spirit, shaping and controlling Sirius features, pulling his facial muscles into their new owners triumphant expression, before everything that Sirius was and had been was obliterated in a roar of Fiendfyre from James' Elder Wand.

"_I'll do it again, Sirius._" He said.

"Well, aren't you a twat." Sirius observed.

"Not Severus." Remus told him. "The Time-Turner, Sirius! If the Time-Turner is destroyed, _everything_ will revert to its original place and I will be left standing in my bedroom, with the intact Time-Turner. I will be able to go back and save you from The Veil, again. And again, if I have to. And again. I will keep doing it, Sirius, until you don't die._ I promise."_

.

Sirius studied him with a mixture of surprise and bafflement; and then he laughed.

"Well, I am _so glad_ we aren't still talking about '_Severus_'!" He said, finally. "Oh, and Moony, I have just thought of something splendidly sinister about that statement... If you destroy the Time-Turner and go back to your starting point, _you_ won't know anything that has happened. If everything is erased from your memory, you will do everything_ EXACTLY _the same, right up until this exact moment, Moony. You'll promise me you'll go back and have another go, then find the Time-Turner, destroy it, AGAIN, then go back and do it all over again. And again. And again. And that is a loop, Moony. Really, you'd think someone would have warned us that Time-Turners could be dangerous, wouldn't you?"

"What?" Remus said.

"If you destroy the Time-Turner you'll jump back to that first moment in your bedroom, holding the Time-Turner, determined to save me, with no memory of any of this. So you'll make all the EXACT_ same decisions_, _all over again,_ Moony. And again and again," Sirius laughed.

"What?" Remus said.

"And Moony, you might have used the Time-Turner millions of times already. Because you wouldn't remember. What are even the odds on this being your very first go? You might have trapped time in an endless loop of infinite rescue attempts. You will have ended time itself. On the plus side, you might have done that millions of years ago, originally, which is long enough to get over it... Although, technically that's not millions of 'years' ago. Your original decision to rescue me might have been millions of 'rescue attempts' ago."

"What?" Remus said.

"Nothing." Sirius grinned at him. "Only that I like you, Moony. I like that you'd trap time, itself, in a perpetual loop of 'saving me'. That makes me feel special."

.

_"...What makes you feel special, Sirius?_" James demanded, stepping out of the fireplace in a cascade of green flames and swirling black dress-robes. "Being such a pretty boy that even the Dark Lord wants your body?"

"Yeah, that will be it." Sirius agreed, swinging out of the chair and turning his wand on it, watching it swirl and change from an armchair back to the shabby pile of robes he'd transfigured it from all those weeks earlier.

.

"_…He only wants you because of Mother, doesn't he?_" Regulus added, also stepping through the fireplace and dusting off his sleeves, before finding his brother and embracing him. "…Didn't the Dark Lord originally name the Death Eaters after mother as well? Her 'Knights' or something equally crass? Thanks for bothering to explain the situation to me, by the way, Siri. Clearly this wasn't important enough to bother disturbing me."

"You betrayed Voldemort and chose a watery death without bothering to tell me." Sirius reminded him. "And shouldn't you be waiting for me in a graveyard somewhere, with a Death Eater mask on, Reg?"

.

"_…I have a better plan!_" Hermione cried, flinging herself out of the green flames behind Regulus' back, half-dressed and still struggling into her jumper as she stumbled into him. "...I have a better plan."

"One that clearly didn't involve a hairbrush." James said. "And I'm sure you don't have a 'better' plan, as you're about thirteen and a schoolgirl. Besides, our plan is vastly more complicated and brilliant than you think it is."

"It better had be." Regulus assured him. "Because it sounds bloody awful. Are you sure you want to do this, Siri?"

"Of course I do." Sirius said. "And the plan is currently win/win. Voldemort will be defeated and Lily rescued either way. And either Snivelrus Snape suddenly show his incredibly well-hidden decent side, and save my soul, or Moony will make him wish that he had by bringing about the actually End of Time. What's not to like about that?"

"Glad you're fine, Pads." James assured him. "Hermione, please stop trying to involving yourself in something you have absolutely no understanding of. I wouldn't try this with a plan that I hadn't made flawless. It will work better than anything else. It's just complex and you, Hermione, and you, Remus, don't need to know it's entirety. As we're up against a skillful mind-reader and none of you have any occlumancy training it's probably vital that you _don't _know all the details. Your knowing could stop it working and put Sirius in greater danger, couldn't it? Reg, you do actually have a part to play in this, so you'd better come with me."

"I _have a BETTER plan_." Hermione told him, catching James by the arm, as he tried to leave.

"No, YOU DON'T." James said, mimmicing her sharp tone. "I have just, excessively patiently, explained to you that you _do not know _the complexities of my plan, because you are a schoolgirl, who doesn't know how to occlude her mind. Without knowing both plans it's 'NOT POSSIBLE' for you to know which plan is _'BETTER'_. Do you understand 'THAT MUCH', at least? Sirius, put on dress robes. I'll send Harry to get you."

And with a handful of floo powder he hurried Regulus back through the flames.

.

Hermione stared after James for a moment before turning to find her former teacher and Harry's Godfather; now standing alone in the room. "I do think I can help." She said. "But I'll need to talk to Harry."

"James is, understandably, very stressed." Remus said. "I hope you'll excuse that. And thank you, Hermione. That's very good of you."

"And I think all your plans are excellent, Hermione." Sirius offered. "It's an absolute mystery to me how James took seven years to woo Lily, when stress makes him so very charming."

"Maybe he used amorentia." Hermione suggested, and she hurried back through the fireplace before the flames could start to lose their green hue.

.

Sirius picked up an abandoned copy of The Prophet to fan away the rest of the floo powder. "…We have dress robes, right, Moony?" He said, glancing back at him.

Remus didn't say anything at all. He looked pale and exhausted.

"…I am sorry I went to sleep last night, Moony." Sirius added, suddenly. "I really did need to make sure I'd seen everyone last night. And I didn't manage to explain anything properly to Harry or Reggie; and I really did want to spend some time with James. Remus, I'm sorry I didn't include you on that list of people. I really should have."

"Not at all, I expected you to want to spend time with James." Remus said, resurrecting his smile. "And your insensitivity is part of your charm, Padfoot."

"No." Sirius said. "It's not. I had to see everyone on my list, Remus, before I could come home. And you have never appeared on any of my lists, because aside from prison cells and caves, the place that I come home to, when I have reached the end of every list, since I was eleven years old, is with you. I'm sorry if you felt you should have been on that list. I didn't mean to go to sleep like that. Clearly you should have been at the top of more of my lists, but I hope you realise that your absence from them was never an insult."


	111. Chapter 111

The graveyard was astonishingly full.

In an adjacent car park, a rather startled group of Muggle school children had just been ushered urgently back onto a coach, without a single Death Eaters or James hexing any of them.

James, Harry and Sirius were fully surrounded by their friends, all in the requested black dress robes, their wands were drawn and ready to use, while on the far side of the graveyard, in similar black robes, the Death Eaters, loitered.

It seemed bizarrely civil; in no way resembled the terrifying fights of Harry's teens. But this was James's battle, and so it was being fought like a game of chess.

His deal, to swap Lily for Sirius, pleased both parties and required an amnesty for the exchange to take place. And so they stood in the hot graveyard, in flowing wizards robes, while bees buzzed, birds sang joyously and nervous tension gave the proceedings a strangely surreal atmosphere, somewhere between a party and a wake.

The blazing midday sun continued to bore down on them. Across the graveyard, the frightening nameless Death Eaters of Harry's early teens seemed to have been replaced by a cluster of hot, mostly middle-aged, men, who were currently removing their masks, revealing flushed faces and sweat-matted hair.

Harry recognised a lot of them.

Draco Malfoy, for example, looking older and weirdly trying to grow some sort of tragic teenage beard, that would have been laughable in other, less terrible, circumstances.

And Draco's mother, Cissy, looking impossibly tense.

Gregory Goyle, and Goyle senior.

Vincent Crabbe's father.

Rodolfus Lestrange, freshly released from Azkaban and probably still mourning his sadistic younger brother's death.

Of course, Rodolfus' wife, Bellatrix; Lucius Malfoy, Regulus Black and Severus Snape.

If they hadn't messed with time, Harry was certain that most of these people would either be locked up in Azkaban still, or pretending to be loyal to The Ministry.

But they _had_ messed with time, and now Harry was going to lose Sirius again. Unless James or Hermione could save him. And James's plan didn't sound like it would work. Hermione's opinion and Remus' grim mask of an expression suggested it was maybe not even meant to save Sirius' life.

Trying not to wear his own desperation on his face, Harry turned back to Hermione, who immediately gave him a 'reassuring' smile. "I wish I could speak to Reg." She complained, anxiously.

"Seriously?" Ron demanded, in disbelief.

"Regulus is helping us." Hermione pointed out. "There isn't a potion he can't turn his hand to, his team never lost a game while he was Seeker and he knows everything about… dark magic; things they don't write down in books."

"Oh Great. So about two hundred points to Slytherin?" Ron suggested. "Maybe Voldemort can be reborn in his brilliant body instead of Sirius'."

"That's not going to happen." Harry snapped.

"No… Sorry, mate." Ron said. "Your Dad is awesome and a Marauder. His plan is bound to work."

"James' plan isn't primarily to save Sirius." Hermione reminded then. "It's clearly to kill Voldemort, at any cost."

.

The pale-skinned 'Voldemort' that Harry had spent his teenage years fighting had died at Hogwarts, in the last battle of the war.

The handsome raven-haired 'Tom Riddle' who James had fought in his youth, was remembered by barely half the wizards huddled around him.

Now there was only little Lily, standing with Bellatrix, and the slumped figure of bony Alice Longbottom, in her mangled hospital gown. The clearly terrified woman was bound by those strange black wirey ropes that could be cast from a wand, dragged behind Bellatrix like a animal, as she followed Lily around.

Neville stayed by Harry's side, his expression fixed, his wand waiting.

Everyone, seemed to be waiting.

Hermione was still, at this late hour, trying to pull her plan together, certain James meant for Voldemort's soul to be trapped in Sirius' body, to be destroyed.

What Hermione needed was time. Every member of the DA was under instructions to let James' plan run its course _unless_ he actually tried to end Sirius' life. If James did that, every single member of the DA was ready to fight. Harry, Ron and Hermione, were ready with a portkey to jump Sirius, possessed or not, from the graveyard to the safest place they could think of, Lupin's house in the woods.

Hermione was certain that with enough time and information, Voldemort's soul could be destroyed without Sirius being killed. Harry had no idea if this was correct, but he trusted Hermione and was desperate enough to try anything.

~o0o~

"So," James said. "I need you to chat up Bellatrix."

"…I'm sorry?" Sirius said. James' lips quirked into a toothy grin.

"It's important." He said. "Think of it as humorous. I need you to get her away from the others."

"You need me to chat up Bellatrix?" Sirius repeated. "James… You know we have… we have a long term 'trying to kill each other' relationship going on, don't you?"

"Well, you liked each other once." James pointed out. "Your family, Sirius. She's your cousin."

"And that helps, how?" Sirius boggled, sweeping his hair out of his eyes. "James, 'being family' doesn't help with chatting people up."

"Well, they're _all_ related to you." James pointed out. "Are you saying you can't do it?"

"Yeah, I think I probably can't." Sirius said, glancing nervously over at the cluster of Death Eaters.

"Really?" James asked, in surprise. "Because I was thinking she was your best bet. I can't see that dumpy Alecto anywhere. There's always Cissy, I suppose. But I think Bellatrix kind of likes you, in an angry way."

"Please tell me you're joking." Sirius begged him. "This cannot be part of your plan, James."

"It's a _vital_ part of my plan." James assured him. "Sirius, you're good at this! This is what you do. Look, there's Alecto Carrow!" He added, brightly. "Try and get her away from her brother."

"This is your worst plan _ever."_ Sirius assured him. "I'm going to find out what Hermione's plan is, if you keep this up."

"I'm offering you a choice." James pointed out. "Ideally, go and chat up Bella and convince her to go somewhere private with you. But, if you think you're too old and rusty to do that, Cissy or Alecto would do, as long as you could get them away from Lucius or Amycus… I don't know, Padfoot. I just need _one_ Death Eater. Come on, Padfoot, this is definitely your area of expertise. You choose. Maybe one of the chaps is perverted, like that. They're a disgusting lot and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them wouldn't be into vile stuff like that. A man would certainly be easier to get on his own than Cissy or Alecto."

Sirius was looking over the Death Eaters more carefully now. "...You just want me to get someone on their own?" He clarified.

"Yes. Subtly. ...And no pressure, but it's slightly life and death; for you... Shame you killed Rabastan, Pads. He was creepy enough…"

"But mostly you want Bella?" Sirius interrupted him.

"Yep." James agreed. "Can you?"

"I expect so." Sirius said. "Bella always had an excellent sense of humour."

~o0o~

**AN: I have given James slightly homophobic views in this chapter. These are not my views.**

**According to JK Rowling, James was an only child, who grew up in an old pureblood family, with elderly parents. Through out James life, homosexuality was illegal and punishable with a prison sentence in Scotland. I wanted to use his out-dated views to emphasise the differences between the many different time periods the characters have been snatched from, and also because I think it makes for a more interesting story if characters have differing views?  
**


	112. Chapter 112

Sirius smiled brightly as he hailed Bellatrix, stepping through the Death Eaters that flanked her on every side. Proud and gauntly beautiful, if you could find beauty in a woman who crucio'd people into insanity and dragged them around by black cords, Bellatrix studied him with blank-faced surprise.

The Death Eaters hovered, wands poised, uncertain. But Voldemort, only moved away, allowing his most trusted Death Eaters to guard him. As both Sirius and James were banking on, he had no desire to change a plan that gave him exactly what he wanted, for the sake of Sirius speaking to his cousin.

.

"Come to say goodbye to me, ickle cousin?" Bellatrix laughed.

Sirius's smile broadened, observing the ice-cold glare that hadn't left her eyes; the angry flush of embarrassment, as every Death Eater continued to watch them.

'Helpfully' James had moved around the graveyard, so he was now behind the Death Eaters and able to stay in Sirius' line of vision. The distant figure gave a jaunty thumbs up, behind Bella's back.

.

"…Yes, that is exactly what I've come to do." Sirius agreed, focusing on her again. "I've come to say goodbye, and to discuss the succession to the Black estate."

Bellatrix studied him, blinking. At her feet Alice Longbottom suddenly sang a single line of song, in her frail crackling voice.

The stunned silence that followed was broken by a burst of Death Eater laughter. Sirius glared at his cousin, and reassured somewhat by that, Bellatrix laughed, yanking Alice fiercely onto the floor.

"The Black estate won't be your concern for much longer, ickle cousin." She assured him.

"Are you going to humour me?" Sirius asked her. "Or do we call this whole deal off?"

"You wouldn't dare!" Bellatrix exclaimed, in alarm. "You want Potter's Mudblood..." Cursing, Bella yanked Alice Longbottom off her knees and thrust the ropes at Draco, before stalking across the graveyard, head held high.

Smiling, Sirius followed her.

.

"_I have nothing to say to you, Sirius_!" Bellatrix snarled, as soon as they could be considered separated from the watching Death Eaters. "_What do you want?_"

"You pushed me through The Veil." Sirius said. "And you handed me over to Rabastan. You behaviour boarders on hurtful. Bella."

"Doesn't it just." Bellatrix smirked. "I did enjoy that. What did you expect, Blood-traitor? Forgiveness? Apologies?"

"I want you to leave Nymphadora's baby alone." Sirius told her, earnestly. "I really do, Bella."

"That's a shame." Bellatrix assured him. "Because I get excited just thinking about the fun we'll have together. I like playing with animals, Siri."

"Do you know what I like?" Sirius asked her.

"My flesh crawls, merely considering the many possibilities." Bellatrix shuddered.

"We have so much in common, Bella." Sirius pointed out.

"No, we don't!" Bellatrix snapped, genuinely outraged. Her husband, who had moved clear of the other Death Eaters as well, watched intently from a nearby cluster of yew trees, his eyes never leaving Sirius for a single moment.

"...We have an awful lot in common." Sirius reiterated, trying not to laugh. "You're a crazy sadistic bitch and…"

"_How dare you say that?!"_ Bellatrix snarled. "The only thing we have in common is our desire to see each other dead!"

"You're very pretty when you're screechy?" Sirius suggested. Bellatrix's knuckles were white, where they clenched her wand, but Sirius was sure she'd been forbidden from damaging his body, before he handed it over to Voldemort. He let his eyes scan the back of the graveyard for James, but he couldn't see him anywhere.

Rodolphus was still the only Death Eater dangerously close, glaring at him intently from beneath the low branched trees; but at least half the Death Eaters were still watching them.

.

"_What are you doing, Siri?"_ Bellatrix demanded; catching his jaw and turning him sharply back to her.

"What?" Sirius asked. "I'm wooing you with nice complements. You have a charming personality."

"Have you gone completely insane?" Bellatrix demanded, studying his eyes carefully. "A potion, Sirius? Has James hexed you? Will this affect the Dark Lord, when he possesses your body?"

"God, you are really mean to me." Sirius pointed out. "I'm about to die and I just wanted to have one civil conversation with you."

"You're a repulsive blood traitor!" Bellatrix snarled, stepping back again. "And I know what you're like, Siri. Now, tell me what you really want! I may not be able to hurt you but I'll kill everyone you love, and I'll torture the half-breed baby..."

"Putting that aside though…" Sirius suggested, pausing to watch James' recently purchased owl swoop over their heads and land on the nearest gravestone. "Oh, _thank God."_ He added.

Bellatrix glared at him, as he removed the parchment and unrolled it.

"…It's from James." He told her.

"Why would I care?!" Bellatrix demanded. "I am excited about your imminent death!"

"I think, beneath it all, you probably love me." Sirius said, studying James' message, checking the blank back of the sheet and looking around for him, desperately. "Your love for me is clearly _very_ deeply hidden...

"The Dark Lord wants you _intact_." Bellatrix hissed at him. "You can't make me hex you, Sirius. Say what you want, the harder you try to embarass me the more slow and painfull I will make the half-breed baby's…"

"_Don't make me hex you."_ Sirius warned her. "You know you're not allowed to hex me back and I don't generally like to hurt women. Why don't we kiss and make up? It could be… …exciting? …the last chance I get? …kinky?"

Bellatrix gave a snort of angry laughter.

"_What the hell is wrong with you!?"_ She demanded, fiercely. "Why are you doing this? _Enough! I don't care!_"

"If you found that annoying, you're might not appreciate this," Sirius stated and, as James' missive had instructed, he kissed her, keeping her from violently fighting him off, with a good grip on two fistfuls of her tangled dark curls.

.

_"…What the hell are they doing!?_" Ron demanded; mouth dropped open.

"Sirius is kissing Bellatrix." Luna said, calmly. "But I don't think she likes it very much."

Yowling like a cat, Bellatrix tore herself free and lunged at Sirius, fingers like taloned claws, snatch hold of his hair and throat.

"Do you imagine they fought like that when they were children?" Luna pondered, at Harry's side.

"No." Harry said.

He was trying to tell if he should do something; although what, really wasn't obvious.

Fastest to react was Bellatrix's husband, storming out from behind the cluster of yew trees and knocking Sirius off his feet with a violent curse.

"...Is this part of James' plan!?" Ginny demanded, watching intently as Regulus and Severus both stopped Bellatrix from attacking Sirius, as her husband launched him violently into the cluster of yew trees shouting angrily at Lucius Malfoy.

"No." Harry said. "...Is it?"

"It is a very strange plan." Luna offered. "But I quite like it. I'm sure Sirius will be fine, Harry. He reminds me of a Heliopath."

"We have to stop this... don't we?" Harry said, before abruptly drawing his wand and getting as far as Hermione, who caught hold of him.

"This has to be part of James' plan," she pointed out. "That's too weird not to be."

"It's a rubbish plan!" Harry exploded. "He's going to get Sirius killed!"

"_We_ won't let that happen." Hermione reminded him. "Calm down, Harry."

"Harry's right." Ron interrupted. "I think we should stop them."

.

Bellatrix's husband had managed to get a few good punches on the still stunned Sirius. Under instruction from Snape, he had just kicked Sirius down onto his knees and was binding his wrists behind his back with a swirl of the black wiry ropes and plenty of brutality.

"We have to do something." Ron exclaimed, angrily.

Bellatrix was back at her husband's side, laughing viciously as he used the black wires to gag Sirius and drag him back to the other Death Eaters.

"Where is James?" Harry demanded.

"He's doing something." Hermione said. "This has to be… something for his plan."

But what? Because Harry was sure that none of this was actually going to help Sirius, who was clearly still effected by being stunned, and had less chance of fighting Voldemort off than ever.

"If this is James' plan, it's gone badly wrong." Harry pointed out, as the Death Eaters, led by Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, marched triumphantly through the graveyard; he, dragging the bound Sirius and she, once more hauling the now frantic Alice Longbottom up onto the plinth about the vast stone cauldron.

~o0o~

On the plinth Lily waited, small and heavily protected. In her slightly jerky puppet like way she moved to the edge of the cauldron, where the Death Eaters waited with their bound figures.

And James.

Standing with them, was James.

"Harry…?" Ron said, uncertainly.

"Harry, why is your father with the Death Eaters?" Luna asked, calmly.

"He is collecting Lily." Hermione said. "Do you think we should try to stop them, Harry?"

Harry didn't know.

He honestly didn't know what the right thing to do was.

"Your dad is a on our side." Ron stated firmly, because apparently that suddenly needed stating. "He saved Fred. And everyone."

"We only intervene if Sirius is in mortal peril." Harry repeated Hermione's original plan. "If James tries to kill him..."

.

On the stone plinth his mother abruptly swayed and crumpled, falling like a rag doll at her husbands feet.

Voldemort's incorporeal spirit rose out of her, visible for a moment like the rippling distortion of a heat haze, before he dived hungrily down on the bound and gagged Sirius.

The cluster of Death Eaters closed in.

Sirius thrash violently against his restraints for seconds, before he became quite still. Harry could see nothing of his face. He could see Bellatrix. Eyes bright with triumph, she lifted her a slender leg and booted him into the cauldron.

.

"…_Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son."_ Harry repeated the words, barely audible on this side of the graveyard, as Bellatrix, again flung a bone from Tom Riddle Senior's grave into her cauldron.

James was still standing beside the other Death Eaters, on the plinth.

"…_Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master."_ Bellatrix didn't so much as flinch as she severed two fingers from her left hand with a single swipe.

"…_Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe._" Again, the cowering Alice Longbottom was dragged up to the brim of the cauldron and cut.

Lily lifted her head, a single hand feeling blindly across the plinth. Not even James moved to her; eyes on the bubbling cauldron.

.

With a violent eruption the entire cauldron exploded; bubbling liquid hissed as it cascaded over the split metal.

Bellatrix lunged into the steam, struggling to pull the restraints from Sirius, or Voldemort, as he rose up to his full height.

.

Every DA member raised their wands.

Eevery eye was fixed on James, still on the plinth above the proceedings.

Without a moment's hesitation James leveled the Elder Wand on his stumbling best friend, and cast up an inferno of demonic fiendfyre.

.

"Expelliumus!" Harry shouted.

"Levicorpus!" Hermione screamed, wrenching Sirius' body above the roaring flames that vomiting uncontrolably from the tip of the Elder Wand.

DA and Death Eater spells clashed and rebounded, turning the graveyard into a tornado of screams, fire and exploding stone.

The Death Eaters filled the air with dark curses.

The DA advanced, as one.

Hermione used her spell to fling Sirius into an adjacent field, where he staggered to his feet, wandless and barely able to stand. Wizards and Witches of both sides jumped the wall intent on reaching him first.

James flung his wife off the plinth and sent the flames roaring again, blocking their approaching to Sirius before he sent a second arc of fire looping around the field to fence him in.

In desperation Harry turned his wand on his own father. "..._Portkey!_" Hermione screamed at him. "_Portkey, Harry!_"

Harry dropped his wand to seize it the already glowing portkey with both hands, and flung it as far and hard as he could, through the flames, to Sirius.

"_It's a portkey!_" He shouted, as loudly as he could, and whether it was Sirius or Voldemort that heard him, he didn't know, only that at this point he would rather save both, than allow his father's fiendfyre to consume them without even trying to seperate the two.

"_Go to Lupin's house in the wood!"_ Hermione shouted. "_Now!"_ And she disapperated, with a bang.

Snatching his wand back off the ground, Harry followed her, whip-crack bangs echoed through the burning graveyard, as more and more wizards from both sides disapparated, in chase.


	113. Chapter 113

**AN:Molotov, Guest, Kazo Sakimari, Iolana - thank you for reviewing! :)**

**I'm going to take 'strangest story' as a compliment... I think?**

**Cliff-hangers, just because you like them really ;)**

**Yes, James shall be pissy about this.**

**Guest - this chapter will explain where Remus was while Voldemort was being reborn. I'm sorry that you're really disappointed with the way I'm writing Remus, because I like Remus best of all the characters. I don't think he is a coward and never meant to make him appear cowardly. I try to make all my characters faliable, some times utterly stupid, but always perfectly imperfect human-beings.**

**Apart from James, who is a genius - how could you have doubted his plan would fix everything? ;)  
**

**~o0o~**

James was lying in bed, in the well warded house that he had bought, as somewhere safe to take Lily once he'd rescued her; part of his completely thought out and flawless plan.

They were lying in bed, for the obvious reasons.

It felt like a long time since he had been with Lily and he was very happy to have her back.

It was sadly the only thing he was currently happy about, but it was quite a large pile of happy, which at least helped.

Lily, who was also lying in the bed, sneaked a hot arm, around his equally hot sweaty body, clamminess making their skin cling together like glue, and thoroughly trapping the covers around him.

James, who was not a fan of clinging skin, or trapped covers, hugged her tightly and kissed her, before moving back onto a clear bit of bed, to cool down.

He held one of her small pale hands, staring at her perfect little fingers and thanking God that he had her back.

.

"…We should find Harry." Lily suggested, not for the first time.

"I'm still too furious." James assured her. "I'll say things that I'll later regret."

"Don't say anything then." Lily suggested. "I want to see him, James; desperately."

"Yes. In a minute." James dismissed it. "I doubt he wants to see you in this state of undress, anyway."

Lily got up and got dressed.

James watched her, enjoying her every movement.

His wife.

Safe.

"...I'm glad you're safe." He said.

"I'm sorry about your plan." Lily assured him.

"It was flawless." James said, irritably. "It was absolutely perfect."

"It was that perfect, it would have worked." Lily pointed out, adding quickly, "You didn't factor in other people wanting to keep Sirius alive, James. You did too much ordering people around and not enough listening. You always do that."

"I listened to everyone." James said, crossly. "They're school children and I listened and then I told then; I told them not to interfere, Lil. I explained everything, I even explained that I couldn't tell them everything. I even drugged Remus, because I could see he was going to interfere."

"You drugged Remus!?" Lily demanded.

James sighed, heavily.

"Yes. Because Remus _was_ going to interfere." James pointed out. "And he drugged Sirius yesterday. So he can hardly complain on moral grounds..."

"_You drugged Remus!?_" Lily demanded. "_What the hell, James!? Why would you do that? That is like switching off your moral compass!"_

"Sometimes you have to switch off your moral compass." James informed her. "Fighting a war is like playing chess. To win you have to sacrifice a lot of chess pieces. Remus doesn't understand that. He has _never_ understood that."

"That is called compassion, James." Lily said.

"Do its called selfishness." James assured her, honestly. "_No one_ loves Sirius more than me, Lily. No one does. But I would still have sacrificed him to stop Voldemort. _He_ would have sacrificed himself to stop Voldemort. Voldemort wants to commit genocide. No one individual person's life is worth more than stopping him. And he is learning from every mistake he makes, getting stronger and more dangerous. Remus is a nice man who makes nice compassionate decisions. That's why people like him. I make decisions that win wars. Nobody likes those decisions, but they still have to be made. That is a thankless task."

Lily studied her husband, until the weariness and well concealed hurt became too much to bear, and she kissed him again, fiercely; tenderly; repeatedly; until he laughed.

"Thank you." She said. "Thank you for saving me, James. But I have to warn you, if you stop me from seeing Harry any longer, you are going to need someone to save you."

.

Harry was sitting in the Weasley's kitchen.

Half of Hogwarts appeared to be squeezed into the Weasley's kitchen.

Despite this, Harry flung himself onto his feet as James apparated into the room and punched him, as hard as he could.

"_You never meant for Sirius to fight off Voldemort_!" He screamed his voice wild with fury. "You always intended to kill them both!"

"If I had done, it would still have been a better plan that this!" James assured him, avoiding a second punch with the practiced ease of someone used to people throwing punches at them. "...But actually I didn't intend that. I told you to trust me, Harry! I specifically told you that I couldn't tell you the whole plan because you can't occlude your mind; but that it was perfect and it would work!"

"We thought your plan had gone wrong." Hermione said, trying to catch hold of Harry's arm.

"_You tried to kill Sirius!_" Harry snarled again, furiously. "You lied about Snape trying to save him!"

"No. I told you half the plan, because you don't know how to occlude your mind." James reminded him, again. "I even _told you_ that I was telling you half the plan."

"_You tried to kill Sirius!_" Harry shouted at him. James narrowed his eyes at the volume and waited for Harry to stop yelling.

"For the record," he said, finally, "Sirius made it quite clear that he'd rather be dead than a vessel for Voldemort. For the record, Harry, I told Sirius to get a Death Eater away from the others, so that we could use them for our plan."

"It was ridiculously unreasonable to expect him to manage that," Hermione pointed out, as calmly as she could manage. "Everyone was watching him. They needed Sirius. They were never going to let him out of their sight, for a moment."

"Quite," James agreed a touch smugly. "So while everyone watched Sirius making an utter arse of himself, myself and Dora dragged Rodolphus Lestrange under the invisibility cloak, roughed him up a bit and forced enough polyjuice down his neck to make him take on Sirius' image.

"...And I used my metamorphmagus ability to make myself look like Rodophus Lestrange." Tonks piped up. "And Reggie and Snape made sure no one got close enough to us to realise."

"It was so perfect," James sighed. "The hardest part was getting Sirius to stay under the cloak. He's not very good at sitting out fights."

"But it worked. _Perfectly."_ Tonks assured Harry. "Voldemort was fooled by something as simple as polyjuice potion. He trapped himself in Rodolphus' body, thinking it was Sirius'…"

"And then I destroyed Voldemort and Rodolphus with firendfyre." James finished. "Oh no, _no, I didn't, _Harry_._ Because _you_ gave Voldemort a portkey, so he could escape, Harry."

.

The silence in the kitchen was icy.

.

"…You should have told us." Harry said, finally. "We didn't know."

"You didn't know because you can't occlude your mind, Harry!" James repeated, slightly less calmly. "And Voldemort is a legilimens! I told you that you didn't know the whole plan! _I told you to trust me!_"

"…So Sirius isn't possessed?" Harry said, after a moment, his eyes wandered to his mother, and staying there, fixed on her, as she smiled at him. "Sirius isn't possessed," he repeated, calmly. "…You saved my mum, and Sirius isn't possessed."

"Yes." Tonks agreed. "Technically two out of three targets achieved. Which is not to be sniffed at."

"You gave Voldemort a portkey." James reminded his slightly too happy looking son. "You didn't trust me and you ruined my plan."

"Sorry." Harry said. "…You saved Sirius. And my mum…" …who was standing in front of him with the biggest, most nervous, adoring smile breaking over her face.

Helpfully, one of the Weasley brothers shoved Harry in the back, knocking him forward into his mother's arms; where he stayed, both of them holding each other so tightly that Harry couldn't breathe, and was too happy to care.

.

"So… So where's Sirius?" He said, finally. Trying to adopt a slightly less jaw-wide grin, as he lifted his face to look for James again. "Why isn't he here?"

James studied Harry for a moment before he spoke.

"As a precaution," he said, carefully, "I had to give Remus a sleeping draft, because he was blatantly going to interfere. I left him in the hovel, unconscious, because I thought he would be safe there. He wasn't, Harry. Your portkey sent the reborn Voldemort directly to him."


	114. Chapter 114

Remus' intentions had probably been similar to Hermione's.

He would have let James' plan run, to a point, but he was not willing to let Sirius be murdered to bring a swift conclusion to Voldemort's attempt at rebirth.

Instead he had, foolishly, accepted a cup of tea from James, and sunken into the same dreamless stupor that he had damned Sirius to the previous night.

What felt like moments later, Sirius woke him, falling into the room; soaking, sooty and barely able to speak.

Chest heaving, he froze, staring at Remus in apparent alarm.

"You're alive!" Remus exclaimed, knocking the table aside and snatching Sirius into his arms.

For a moment Sirius did nothing at all, but then he flung his arms around Remus and embraced him back.

"...Yes." He agreed, letting go to choke up more cauldron water and smoke. "Yes... Death Eaters..." He rasped. "Fighting outside…" Which there were, audible through the door.

Knocking aside the slab of hearth stone Remus snatched up a pinch of damp floo power and chucked it on the smouldering embers, where it crackled, and smoked, while both men watched, listening to the fighting outside.

"...Give me your wand." Sirius told him.

"Of course." Remus took it out of his robe, and cast '_Petrificus Totalus'_, knocking Sirius flat onto the ground, muscles locked.

"Moblicorpus!" He added, levitating the body over to himself, before going to the window, to access the fighting.

In weight of numbers the sides looked to be evenly matched, but most of the DA attacked to disarm, and most of the Death Eaters were ruthless veteran killers. Remus only watched, certain that he could not afford to act rashly when he had the one thing both sides were fighting for; Voldemort.

'Not doing anything' was easier in theory than reality, when there was Harry, and indeed teenagers that he had taught and cared for, being attacked outside the window.

Turning he studied Sirius carefully, searching for any safe way he might be able to use this to stop the fighting, without putting Sirius in even more danger.

As it always had been, it was impossibly hard to think clearly while people's cries of pain and fear split the air. While he was trying to think, Remus' eyes stayed on the DA fighting outside the building; most specifically on Harry, who was fearlessly attacking from the very front of his friends, despite being a primary target, for so many of his enemies.

.

Where it not for the fact that Regulus slammed into the wall directly beside his window, Remus would not have noticed him fall, but fall he had, his unmasked head slamming against the jagged rocks with a sharp crack.

Plans barely formed, Remus leveled his wand at the sky outside and cast _'Morsmordre'_ sending the Dark Mark hurtling up above them and shrouding everything in an eerie green light.

.

The fighting stopped.

Totally.

Heads swung upwards.

.

Dropping Sirius' body onto the floor with a crash, Remus used the levitation charm to swipe Reggie's off the ground outside and draw him through the window, into the relative safety of the cottage.

.

As spells started shaking the stone walls, Remus returned to the fire, urging it to life, and finally managing to igniting the damp floo powder.

Behind him an angry hiss came from Sirius mouth, that suggested the paralysis spell was weakening.

Satisfied that the floo power was burning, Remus turned back to collect the bodies of both Black brothers only to find that, for reasons at that moment inexplicable, he was confronted by an unrestrained armed Sirius.

He was standing in the doorway, panting.

"_Expelliamus_!" Remus shouted, knocking the wand out of Siirus' hand.

"_It's me, Moony!"_ Sirius yelled, ducking across the room, to snatch the wand off the floor, as Macnair and Bellatrix also crashed through the door behind him, and the whole cottage exploded, in a confusion of crisscrossing spells.

.

Remus, yanking the still unconscious body of Regulus behind him, attacked Bellatrix and Macnair, who seemed the most imminent danger.

Sirius attacked Bellatrix, as well, from the far side of the room. "_It's me, Moony… you arse!_" He yelled across at him, sounding impossibly offended; but then randomly laughing hard, when Remus immediately shot a hex at him, as well.

"_Moony, you are fierce!_" Sirius yelled, hitting Macnair on the side of the head and igniting his hair. "_I'm not Voldemort! Ask me something personal!_"

Remus had known that 'Sirius' wasn't Sirius from the moment he had asked for Remus' wand. Sirius was an animagus, and could fight in his beast form; but even if he wasn't, he wouldn't have chosen to disarmed Remus to protect himself.

Establishing whether Sirius was 'himself'_ should_ have been Remus' first action on seeing him alive.

Now, having established that Voldemort had managed to be reborn in Sirius, but not knowing that Sirius was actually Rodolphus Lestrange disguised with polyjuice to look like Sirius, he was understandably unconvinced of Sirius' sudden return to himself.

"What _personal thoughts couldn't be ripped out of my mind by leglimancy?!"_ Remus shouted back at him, hitting Amycus Carrow directly in the face, as he appeared in the doorway.

"_I'm rather offended that you can't just tell it's me!_" Sirius shouted back, hitting little Alecto Carrow in the stomach and laughing as she flew backwards, barrowing her stumbling brother back through the door. "..._What's happened to Reggie!?_" He added, diving past Bellatrix, and her staggering husband, and chucking Remus his wand. With both hands free he hauled his brother upright.

Remus passed him back his wand, so Sirius could cast a protego charm to shield the three of them, while he threw more floo power onto the fire, and coaxed it hurriedly into igniting.

~o0o~

Falling out of the fireplace in Grimmauld Place, Remus immediately set to work on the floo, to stop anyone following them in.

Sirius, without hesitation, reactivated the old enchantments his father had set round the building, to make it unbreachable and unplottable.

Kreacher arrived with a pop, sneering at Sirius, before dragging out a tray of dusty conjealed potions and tangled rolls of yellowing bandages, to tend to Regulus' injuries, with shaky authiritic hands.

.

"…You're alive." Remus said, finally. "It's really you."

Sirius grinned at him.

"Of course." He said. "Thanks to James. I'd apologise for sedating you, but you clearly didn't trust us, and you did it to me first, so I have nothing to apologise for."

"I trust you." Remus stated, calmly. "I trust _you,_ Sirius."

"Meaning?" Sirius asked, eyebrows rising in surprised annoyance.

"Meaning, I trust you." Remus said, simply. Sirius wrinkled his nose, still trying to decide if this was an implied insult of his best friend.

"Good." He decided. "Help me get Reggie fixed up, Moony."


	115. Chapter 115

The Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, watched the toad-faced Unspeakable frantically searching for the address of Sirius' suddenly lost family home, with no small trace of pleasure.

Dolores Umbridge's protuberant eyes, bulged wider as she scattered the parchments across her desk, a line of sweat sheening on her wide top lip and her ever-immaculate hair, disheveled. Document after document landed on the pile, but the suddenly lost location of Sirius' house remained missing.

"…But you must remember where it is!" She glared up at him furiously for a moment, before she remembered who she was talking to and forced a ghastly smile and a nervous little giggle. "Kingsley," She said, sweetly. "Minister; the house! The house we apprehended Black at! You must remember where the house was! It was written down. It must be on so many documents! We definitely have it written down!"

"Which house, Dolores?" Kingsley asked, pleasantly.

"_The _house!" Dolores cried. "The Black house! It was here! It was written down! We have the address! …Somewhere!" And she started to scrabble through the papers again. "…What do you want?" She snapped, glaring at the pink-haired Auror that had just tapped on her open door.

"The Minister." Dora said, with a poor attempt at politeness. "Minister, the two boys hit by curses are going to be fine," she told him, ignoring Dolores entirely. "Apparently they'll need to stay in Saint Mungo's for now."

"And Harry's fine?" Kingsley asked, carefully. "And his 'friends'?"

"Yes. As far as we can establish everyone is fine." Dora assured him. "We managed to capture four Death Eaters, but none of them are talking yet."

"Excellent news." Kingsley thanked her. "Good work, Dora."

"And Black?" Dolores interrupted. "Did Black escape?"

"Sadly." Dora said. "Two of the younger boys had been hit with slashing curses and were bleeding badly. We made their safety our priority."

"Tracking Black must be your number one priority!" Dolores cried, in astonishment.

"_Of course, far more important than bleeding school children_!" Kingsley agreed, meaninglessly. "Now, if you could please find that address for me, Dolores…"

.

Dora waited until Kingsley had pulled the office door closed on Dolores and her piles of paperwork, before puffing out her cheeks, and creating a toad face for herself.

Kingsley chuckled.

"That's quite frightening, Dora." He said. "I take it Sirius has gone back into hiding?"

"Yes." Dora agreed, hurrying to keep up with Kingsley's long strides, as the Minister swept quickly through his Ministry. "Voldemort was reborn. We haven't caught him yet, but we know what he looks like. Rodolphus Lestrange. So, it's only a matter of time."

"Everyone available will be tasked to catching him. And Sirius." He added, inclining his head. "Try to encourage Sirius to stay out of sight, for a while. The Unspeakables are convinced he's Voldemort's 'right-hand man' and his 'second in command' all over again. Now they can add 'actual reborn Dark Lord' to their list of possibilities."

"I never understood why The Prophet always insisted he was Voldemort's heir, last time." Dora pointed out. "I've never met a less likely candidate for controlling the Death Eaters; he can't even control himself. This is the grown man who asked school children to call him 'Snuffles'." Kingsley laughed, 'fondly' Dora would have said. She forced a smile for him, and went back to her own office, to start her write-up of the day's events, before checking on the two boys in St. Mungo's again and finally getting to collect Teddy from Molly and Arthur's.

.

"Greetings!" James said brightly, as she swung into her office. He was sitting at her desk, scribbling pages of reports. Lily Evans, no longer possessed, was sitting on the couch, playing with Teddy, and Moody, was at his old desk, also filling in reports for her.

"Wow." Dora stammered. "Wow… Thank you!"

"You won't say that when you see what he's written." Lily assured her, with a rueful smile. "Dora, Teddy is beautiful. He's such a happy baby."

"He turned into a dog." Moody told her, bluntly. "He pissed in the corner of the room, and they've spent the last half hour, trying to turn him back human."

"...But aside from that, he is lovely." Lily said, getting up to give Tonks a one armed hug, and to pass the baby over. "I… I miss Harry being this age." She said, with a bigger smile. "I've missed so much of his life."

"Harry's awesome." Tonks assured her.

"He would be. It's in his genes." James pointed out, glancing up to flashing them both a smile. "God, I want to be an Auror again. They need me."

"They need something," Tonks assured him. "Half of them are useless."

"A plan is forming..." James said, quill scribbling away. "And this is pretty much done... You can just sign your name, Dora, and then you can get Teddy home. Lily is desperate to 'personally thank me' for saving her life, and then we'll catch up with you at Arthur's."

"I'll file everything." Moody added, snatching the forms up. "You get Teddy home, Tonks."

"I'll take him to Molly and Arthurs." Dora said, quite certain she didn't want to sit in her empty home, waiting and thinking. "I'll make sure Harry and the others are alright, and let you know if anyone's heard from Remus or Sirius."

.

And so Dora had gone to The Burrow, where Harry and his friends were still sat around the kitchen table, talking late into the night.

.

James and Lily returned to The Burrow a couple of hours later; James to tell Harry off for interfering with his plan and Lily to be reunited with her son.

And while James was cross that Harry had stopped his plan working, he was not overly concerned where Sirius was, or even Voldemort who's days in his new body seemed numbered, now everyone from the Ministry to the DA were after him.

No one was concerned where Remus was.

Tonks, listened to them discussing the best way to catch Voldemort, until James took his wife and son away to his safe-house, and the Weasley's finally turned in.

She took Teddy back to 'her house', which technically probably belonged to Moody again, as he was no longer dead.

Moody was already asleep on the sofa, so Tonks settled Teddy and poured herself a large glass of wine, listening to the silent world outside, and Moody's gurgling snoring, in the Living Room.

She didn't worry that her husband was in danger, because she knew Sirius had reactivated the fidalius charm on his house. She was more annoyed, really, that _as usual_ Remus hadn't bothered to contact her, to let her know that he was alright.

She didn't worry greatly about Voldemort, who she also thought was likely to be caught reasonably swiftly now the Ministry knew who they were looking for.

Nor did she worry about Sirius getting caught and imprisoned for messing with time.

She just sat, sipping wine and watching her baby sleeping, thinking about the future ahead of her, without her parents in it, and the very unexpected path her life had taken in the seven years since she had left Hogwarts.


	116. Chapter 116

**AN: *deep breath* ~I know this chapter is going to annoy some of you A LOT but Remus stole a Time-tuner and rescued people who were meant to be dead, the future that was meant to happen has been messed up...  
**

~o0o~

Drinking alone was never a good idea.

It wasn't that Dora was worried about Teddy; Moody was there if he woke in the night.

It was more just a known fact.

Drinking alone wasn't good. It was _understandable,_ when you had lost your parents and your husband had, _yet again,_ forgotten to mention where he was, or if he was even alive.

For Dora, getting drunk, going out with her friends, were hings Dora had sacrificed long ago; choosing instead to work slavishly to become one of the youngest, in actual fact, _the_ youngest _female_ Auror, in the country.

Three years of hard, _hard_ work, had all seemed worth it, when she was finally qualified.

The pattern was not dissimilar to that of her marriage, only three years later.

Remus had fought hard against marrying Dora; although he deserved a NEWT's Outstanding on mixed-messages.

She had decided he was an idiot; moral, loveable, scruffy and adorable but definitely an _idiot_.

She had gritted her teeth and pursued him with the same determination she had pursued her Auror badge.

Sometimes she couldn't help thinking, and she was thinking it now, as she swallowed the cold bubbly wine, that it would be nice to be the one being pursude for a change.

Her mother, raised by the same parents who had taught Bellatrix Lestrange her morals, had told her it 'wasn't seemly for a lady to chase a man'.

The angry feelings curdled the wine; and the image of her mother, dead and not even buried yet, twisted her face in strange maudlin ways, that would probably look horrific in a mirror.

Refilling the glass quickly, she gulped more fizzing liquid, washing the hot swirling emotions away.

It was while beginning on her third bottle that Dora found herself standing in front of the large mirror in the hallway, studying her pink cheeked reflection.

Dora, by her own assessment, was not brilliant, nor was she exceptionally gifted.

She strived for goodness but seldom for greatness.

She could easily have been ten times as beautiful as Fleur, she could look however she wanted, but she chose to just be herself.

As she peered at the blurry pink-haired reflection, she pondered that choice uncertainly.

And then she noticed she was not alone in peering at her reflection, because James was standing behind her.

"James?" She said, turning, rather unsteadily.

"Oh… No," said Harry. "...It's Harry."

"Wotcha Harry." Dora said, wearily.

"Were you going to bed?" Harry asked, sounding desperate enough to make Dora laugh, although the wine may have made it seem funnier.

"Not for a while." She assured him. "Glass of wine?"

"If you're sure. Thank you." Harry agreed. "Is Remus back?"

"No. But he's fine, if you were worried." Dora assured him. "Sirius has reinstated the fidelius charm on his family home. Safe to say they're both alive and well."

"I'm sorry I messed up your plan." Harry said, at once. "It was a really clever idea. Remus is still at… at…" Dora laughed again.

"Can't remember the name of Sirius' house?" She laughed, flicking her wand and sending a second wine glass hurtling into the room.

Harry caught it moments before it hit the wall.

"Seeker reflexes." He said, with a grin. "No. I can't remember the name of Sirius' house? That's really because of the fidelius? It was the Order headquarters. Do you remember the name?"

"No, I don't know it." Dora said, letting Harry fill the wine glasses. "But they're clearly both alright. Remus went to 'speak to James' before we even met in the graveyard, and vanished off the face of the earth. He does that. It's what he does."

"I'm sorry." Harry said. He had absolutely no idea what to say.

"That's fine." Dora assured him. "He vanished for months when I was pregnant."

"I told him he was wrong to do that." Harry said. "Which I do think it was... He was great with me, at school. But, he never wrote to me afterward, not until he was living with Sirius in… in… how can I actually not remember the name of the house? I have letters with the address written on them I could look out."

"Good luck with that. It's on the tip of my tongue as well." Dora said, amused. "And I know Remus never wrote to you. I thought that was pretty rubbish of him."

"I'm glad they're safe." Harry said. "I really needed to speak to Sirius. I thought he might be here."

"He's hiding." Dora assured him. "Which is what he's supposed to be doing. Why did you want him?"

"For advice." Harry said, earnestly. Dora studied him for a moment before she burst out laughing.

"Oh dear God!" She choked, spilling wine. "I don't think that's one of Sirius' strength's, Harry!"

"It is." Harry assured her, earnestly. "It is. I have a problem."

"Just one. Lucky you." Dora said, before she could stop herself. Harry laughed, quite surprised himself.

"No. I have loads." He assured her; _mainly Ginny,_ who didn't want to know him. It was worse, in fact, than not wanting to know him. She had been perfectly civil to him, during the whole stressful day. She had fought alongside him in the graveyard. But safely back at her parents house, she had made it abundantly clear that they were not, nor ever would be, boyfriend and girlfriend again. _Ever._ You did not, apparently, get second chances with Ginny. Even if you were the legendary Harry Potter.

.

"I didn't do _anything _that Ginny should have dumped me for." He pointed out, drinking more wine. "And I could, you know? Because girls just hear the my name and are all... you know... over me... Not just girls, either…" He glanced at Dora for a moment, awkwardly. "Quite grown up women, as well. Girls like me because I'm Harry Potter."

"How positively awful for you!" Dora laughed. "Every teenagers worst nightmare!"

"I don't like it. I don't know what to do about it." Harry assured her. "They only like me because I'm Harry Potter. It's not what I want and Sirius would know what to do. Girls throw themselves at Sirius all the time, and he knows how to deal with it. I don't. I upset people or I make them angry. It's embarrassing and horrible…" He finished the wine and poured himself another glass. "...I'll buy you more of this, tomorrow." He added, considerately. "I just feel so much better, drinking. Were you going to bed?"

"Not yet." Dora said again. "So Ginny really wants to finish things? And you're fame is making girls throw themselves at you?"

"Pretty much." Harry admitted. "Ginny's been offered a place training for a national quidditch team. It's one of those things…" And here he paused, and sighed. "It's one of those things…" He said, calmly, "that I'm sure has changed because of the Time-turner. If my dad hadn't saved Fred, we'd never have gone to that party and I wouldn't have got dumped. And if all the Weasleys were mourning instead of celebrating, Ginny would have have considered going away."

"…Ginny's been offered a place on a national quidditch team?" Dora interrupted him.

"Yeah." Harry said. "Well, not the team. But training with them. I'm really happy for her. Just... not so happy for me. It's so unfair... I'm happy my parents are alive, obviously," he conceded, grudgingly.

He took a moment to notice Dora's silence.

"…I'm sorry about your parents." He stammered, horrified at his own lack of tact.

Dora didn't say anything. She _thought_ of things to say that would make it sound okay, but she couldn't quite force them out of her mouth. Instead, her lips remained pressed together, and fat tears rolled abruptly onto her cheeks.

Harry stared at her, in horror.

"I'm sorry." He said again, getting up, quickly.

"I'm sorry!" Dora sobbed. "It's the wine! I shouldn't have drunk so much wine!"

"It's not the wine." Harry assured her, as calmly as he could.

'_What would James do?'_ ran over and over in his head, although that could be the fault of the wine, because Harry was not sure his father had a good track record of dealing with crying girls either. "...It's alright to cry." Harry told her. "You've lost your parents…" He looked around, for someone to get. Finding no one, he stepped awkwardly over to Dora and hugged her.

The wine helped.

Panicing over crying girls reminded him of kissing Cho, which, was probably because he was a teenage boy and because of the wine.

_Do not think about kissing, while hugging the awesome wife of your former teacher,_ Harry reminded himself, urgently.

The wine, rushing through his bloodstream, definitely did not help.

The fact that Dora was so young and pretty, as well as probably being the most awesome woman he'd ever met, did not help.

Despite the inappropriate thoughts, Harry was so surprised when she tilted her head and let his lips brush into hers, that he dropped her in alarm; his stupid mouth saying the very first thing that came into his head.

"Do you just like Potters?" He exclaimed.

Dora peeled her eyes open, with a sigh.

"…I'm sorry." She said, tearfully. "I'm sorry Harry. I'm drunk and very upset."

"I'm drunk and confused." Harry said. "You're married. And, my dad… you think _my dad_ is great."

"I do think your dad is great." Dora conceded. "But not _that_ sort of great. We were just trying to incite some jealousy in Remus. James' idea. Which worked, _not at all._ I think Remus was relieved."

"I'm sure he wasn't." Harry stammered. "You're amazing. The best thing that ever happened to him. _My dad was flirting with you on purpose!? He was doing that to make Remus jealous?_ Why couldn't you just talk to him?"

Dora shrugged and took another mouthful of wine.

"It was a stupid idea." She conceded. "It didn't work."

Harry nodded, maybe it was the wine, but it had just occurred to him that he didn't actually _care_ about much beyond the fact that Nymphadora Tonks, the beautiful, amazing, funny and kind, pink-haired Auror had just kissed him. Sort of… would have... almost certainly, if he hadn't ruined it.

"Yeah. Remus is like Ginny." He concluded. "He's crazy." And then, before he lost his nerve, he leant over and kissed Dora on the mouth, as she opened her lips to speak.

.

The kisses were hot and amazing. They tasted of wine and amazingness.

When Harry opened his eyes, he had to spend a long time, deciding that this could possibly be real.

Maybe _this_ was the real wonder of being the famous Harry Potter; amazing totally out of his league Auror metamorphmagus' would think he was cool.

As it was very early in the morning, Harry decided to go back to sleep; grinning to himself.

.

As a result, he woke at mid-day, still in Remus' home, with a terrible headache, severe dehydration. The rather horrifying realisation that he was now actually guilty of being unfaithful to Ginny, and had kissed Remus' _wife, _not once but many, _many_ times filled his entire aching brain, cycling round and round and stopping him thinking of anything else.

He was, he now realised, not a hero. He was a terrible, horrible person.

**~o0o~**

**AN:So... (nervously) reviews or thoughts on this chapter? **


	117. Chapter 117

Sirius supported his little brother against his chest, as Remus examined the conjealing mass of tangled bloody hair at the back of his head.

"Did you see what happened?" He asked, quietly.

There was so much blood it was hard to see how bad the injury was but, as Reggie was a Death Eater, taking him to St. Mungo's was not an option.

"...No, I didn't see what happened. Only that it threw him across the clearing, and he cracked his head on the rock wall of the cottage. I think he might have fractured his skull. Do you want to try and heal it?"

"Not yet." Sirius said, running a hand nervously through Reglulus' tangled hair. "If he's fractured his skull, it might stop the bleeding inside from causing enough pressure to damage his brain."

Remus didn't say anything. He nodded and for a moment Sirius merely closed his eyes considering their appalling lack of healing knowledge and the overwhelming desire to take his little brother to Saint Mungo's and demand medical help for him. But he composed himself and easing Reggie down onto the dusty bed he wriggled free.

"…I should have been a healer, right?" He suggested, with a wan chuckle.

"They'd have been lucky to have you ." Remus assured him. "Are you sure you don't want to take him to Saint Mungo's? Kingsley is the Minister for Magic. He'll plead Reggie's case."

"A rogue Death Eater, jumping through time, to resurrect the Dark Lord?" Sirius moved his brother's sleeve, looking at the inflamed black skull and snake, branded on his smooth pale skin. "…Even if Kingsley can convince the law courts to keep him out of Azkaban, the Death Eaters would get him." He said, as calmly as he could. "And torture him enough to make sure no one else consider swapping sides… I don't know anything about brain damage. It's not something you ever tended to do to yourself. What sort of curse do you think it was?"

"I've no idea." Remus said, honestly. "There's no obvious damage from it, and it was probably cast by someone on our side."

"So nothing too horrible… "Sirius concluded. "...Unless Ron did it." He got up and started to search the room for something to drink. Remus assumed he was searching for something to drink. There wasn't much they could do but sit and wait, and patience had never been Sirius' forte.

Remus watched him, pondered the merit of sending Dora a message with an owl, as opposed to using the floo. Going back, obviously the correct choice, would leave Sirius alone, to deal with Reggie. And there was a good chance Reggie would wake up in agony, needing medical attention they couldn't give him... or fitting... or dying without warning; while Remus was embroiled in some petty argument about not contacting Dora enough, distrusting James' secret plan, and not putting a high enough priority on his responsibilities; generally why he was an all-round unsatisfactory person and a disapointment.

"...I Got wine!" Sirius exclaimed brightly, raising two bottles.

"Well done?" Remus suggested. Sirius' grin broadened.

"Moony." He said, sweetly. "You know that waiting is going to be vastly easier with wine."

Remus smiled, not looking back at the unconscious boy on the bed. Reggie's chest was rising and falling steadily.

"…You have a couple." He said, taking the seat nearest the bed. "One of us should probably be sober enough to lift Reg back onto the bed, if he rolls off."

"I am only suggesting a couple, Moony." Sirius assured him. "Falling-down drunk in care of an invalid would be utterly inappropriate."

"And I'll send an owl to let everyone know what's happened." Remus added.

"Because they've tried _so_ hard to get in contact with us." Sirius agreed, pouring them both a glass. "James will be with Lily and Harry, so I am in the clear. You should check on Teddy and Dora."

"Which I was about to do." Remus assured him.

"…_Pissing hell_." Regulus groaned.

"Reggie!" Sirius exclaimed, discarding the bottle and hurrying to his side. "Are you alright?"

"…_Is Hermione here_?" Reggie whimpered.

"No!" Sirius assured him. "Why would she be? She probably did this to you, Reg!" Regulus gave a weak laugh, that ended with a sharp gasp of pain.

"…Thoughts she might have rushed to my bedside." He whispered, clenching his teeth as his fingers found the back of his head.

"Yeah, only in your pathetic teenage dreams and I wouldn't do that, Reg." Sirius warned him, tugging his hand quickly away. "Just be better at dueling in the future."

"Didn't you die during a duel?" Regulus asked, letting himself be pushed back onto the bed. "...Not that there's anything utterly embarrassing about that, Siri... A duel with a woman."

"Shut up, or I'll fetch Hestia to your sickbed." Sirius warned him.

"_Flora."_ Regulus corrected him.

"Whichever." Sirius said. "Like you even know the difference…"

"…Are we at home?" Regulus interrupted him, sitting up again. "…Did we get him, Siri? Did you get Lord Voldemort?"

"No." Sirius said. "Not yet. I've reactivated father's security measures."

"…He'd be _so proud_." Regulus said, and if it was meant to be mocking, it sounded slightly too pained.

He lay back on the bed for a moment, paler than usual, eyes wide and glassy. Remus, who was used to sickness, moved Sirius aside, to help him vomit into a bowl. "…Sorry." Reggie muttered, falling back onto the bed.

Moving about had upset the clots at the back of his head, and he left a smear of blood on the pillow, which Sirius quietly cleaned with an 'episky' spell.

~o0o~

"I'm really sorry!" Remus called, as he hurried out of his fire place in Moody's old house, scanning the room. Teddy was sitting on the rug, chucking a wooden brick and reaching his arms out for his Daddy with a delighted string of babble.

"…It's fine." Dora said, hurrying into the doorway, in time to watch Remus wrapping the baby up in his embrace.

"Reggie's hurt." Remus explained, giving her his full attention. "James gave me a sleeping draft, yesterday. I assume you know?"  
"I didn't know that." Dora assured him. "He must have thought you'd interfere with the plan."

"I assumed you knew. That was why I didn't contact you yesterday. I lost track of Voldemort when the polyjuice wore off. I didn't know I was looking for Rodolphus Lestrange, and Reggie was badly injured."

"It sounds like you did the right thing." Dora agreed, meekly.

Dora was many things, but meek was not one of them. She was studying the adoring smile on Teddy's face, her own expression for once rather unreadable.

Teddy's feelings couldn't be more obvious, as he gazed up at his father, beaming and trying to get a good grip on Remus' nose and cheek, apparently to yank it off.

"…He's really pleased to see you." She stated. Remus kissed Teddy's head, loosing himself in the sweet familiar smell of his little son's fluffy, currently pink, hair.

"…I felt I should stay with Reggie until we were sure he wasn't going to die. I'm pretty certain he isn't in imminent danger now, although I think he's concussed. But I am sorry I didn't come back last night."

"It's fine." Dora said. "And Sirius is fine? So my plans have saved him twice now."

"That hasn't occurred to him yet." Remus said, with a hint of amusement.

He was, undeniably, surprised that his wife was taking his long absence, and lack of contact, so well. "...He's very worried about Reggie. Who's mostly just sleeping and vomiting. We could, I could, take Teddy, if you intended to go to work? I didn't know if you'd have already asked Molly."

"She won't mind." Dora assured him, quickly. "You're his father, Remus."

"Good. Thank you." Remus said, adjusting his grip on the baby to venture across the room and give his wife a hug and a kiss, as well. "I am sorry, Tonks." He assured her. "I can't begin to imagine what you're going through. I should be here for you."

"I'm going to be at work." Dora assured him, quickly. "I want to keep busy. And I want to get Voldemort before he has a chance to act. I'm going to shower now so…"

They studied each other for a moment, both silent, both reasonably exhausted and both nonplussed.

"…I am sorry, Tonks." Remus said again, sincerely.

"You really took 'not calling me Nymphadora' seriously, didn't you?" She said, with a slightly forced laugh. "So... will you be here when I get back from work?"

"_Yes_." Remus said, firmly. "Yes, of course. Myself and Teddy will be here, waiting for you."

"Right." Dora said. "…Thank you. I'll… see you after work then." And she walked quickly into the shower, yanking off her clothes and hiding under the water; face in her hands, feeling like the worst person in the world.


	118. Chapter 118

Most of the DA were either working now, or back at school, resitting a year filled with disruption and exclusions.

Harry was himself meant to be back going back to school, to finish his NEWT's. But what with fighting Voldemort, getting dumped, his parents returning and kissing people he really shouldn't have, he hadn't realised it was already September; or that half the people who'd rushed to help him in the graveyard had absented themselves from their first week of term.

He hadn't realised until Kingsley Shacklebolt had brought it up, once he had Harry seated in his office in The Ministry of Magic. Kingsley, however, was quite unconcerned. He was more interested in how Sirius was, which Harry didn't know. Kingsley was certain that, should be wish to go back to school, Harry Potter would be welcome whenever he was ready.

This obviously wasn't why Harry had been summoned to the Ministry's office. Kingsley wanted Harry to be an Auror.

And Harry had always wanted to be an Auror.

He was sure he had more first-hand experience than most recruits.

Although it may seem petty, what Harry wanted, was to be accepted as an Auror because of his ability, not because he was Harry Potter; and definitely not because Kingsley wanted some good publicity for The Ministry, to distract from the stories whispering of the Dark Lords return.

~o0o~

"…Lupin has an image…." Reggie was saying, pausing only briefly to watch Remus stepping out of the fireplace, baby in his arms. "…He supplies unlimited chocolate, tea and sympathy... and now a baby to play with. Your wife forgave you, Lupin?"

"She was… fine." Remus agreed mildly.

Teddy, treacherously, demand immediate transferal to Sirius' arms.

"Stuff her, Moony." Sirius told him, stealing Teddy over to the rug, where he could play with him, exclusively.

"She was fine." Remus said again trying not to smile while watching Sirius inducing hysterical laughter in his baby son. "...I'm glad you're feeling better Regulus." He added.

"That's very kind of you, Lupin." Regulus said, politely. He had acquired the entire house's supply of pillows and was settled back on them, looking like 'the little king' his name suggested.

He was watching Sirius pretending to maul the cackling baby as well; and watching Remus, hovering.

"…I didn't imagine you'd have a problem explaining yourself to your wife, Lupin." He added. "Everyone finds you very likeable."

"I've had a letter from Kingsley." Remus added, which was true. He had received it while Dora had been in the shower.

"About me?" Sirius said with a scowl.

"No, actually." Remus took it out, glancing at the Ministerial Insignia again as he handed it over. Sirius' nose wrinkled; an expression Remus would place somewhere between a sneer and the lip curl of a growling dog, as he read.

"…What is it?" Reggie demanded, from his sick bed.

"Its bollocks, is what it is." Sirius said, chucking it away. "Order of Merlin for services to the Wizarding World."

"Really?" Regulus said. "…For you, Lupin?"

"Clearly." Sirius said, bitterly enough to make his brother laugh.

"When you did _so much_ for The Ministry, Sirius." Reggie scoffed. "Can't imagine why everyone always assumes you're a bad-'n."

Sirius ignored him, kissing the baby's face, letting the baby yank his tangled black hair; black hair Teddy had already mimicked, on his own little head.

"…I suppose it's too much to hope that the concept of a Werewolf being given the Order of Merlin is causing the sullen pouting, Siri?" Regulus asked.

"No-one with lycanthropy has ever been given the Order of Merlin before." Remus said. "Considering the damage that Fenrir and his ilk did to people's view of the disease, during both wars, it is something."

"_Peter_ got the Order of Merlin." Sirius snapped. "The 'Order of Merlin' is a Ministry tool to make themselves look good, or to manipulate people."

"Lovely, Siri; not churlish of you at all. _Congratulations,_ Lupin." Regulus said, pointedly. "Was your wife delighted? She seems like an easily pleased woman."

"Yes. She was." Remus said, although he was watching Sirius carefully. The letter had not been entirely about the Order of Merlin and, although this was not the reaction he'd expected, he didn't think it was the honour that had really annoyed Sirius. "...I've been offered a job, as well." He added, for Regulus' benefit. "…What do you think, Sirius?"

Regulus eyed his brother with open enjoyment. "A job doing what, Lupin?" He asked. "Surely your own kind aren't stupid enough to let you spy on them again?"

"Teaching." Remus said. "I taught at Hogwarts when Harry was in his third year.

"You were at Hogwarts because Dumbledore wanted you there; because he knew I'd go there." Sirius snapped.

"So I would do what?" Remus asked him. "I believed you were a murderer, Sirius."

"Then it was just a lovely coincidence?" Sirius suggested.

"No, seriously; who is offering you a job as a teacher?" Regulus demanded. "That's ridiculous! With children?"

"You forgot to take your potion, transformed, and nearly killed Harry and his friends." Sirius reminded him.

"The mind _boggles_." Regulus said. "Only Dumbledore could possibly think a werewolf and small children was a wise combination."

"Shut up, Reg!" Sirius warned him, frowning at Remus as he tried to think. "…Good one." He said, finally. "You deserve this."

"Really!?" Reg demanded. "_Really_, Siri? You'd be as quick to say that if you had little kids in Hogwarts, would you?"

"I won't stay there, over the full moon." Remus stated calmly. "I thought… I thought I could come here. To you. If you would transform into Padfoot."

"Oh, that's rather romantic." Regulus offered.

"I'm going to give you more than a fractured skull, in a minute." Sirius warned him.

"It would be practical." Remus continued, calmly. "Wolfsbane would be ideal but it's a complex potion. It's asking a lot of anyone, to make enough to be taken seven days of every month, twelve months a year, indefinitely."

"Yes." Sirius said. "That would be fine."

"Are you just glad to be useful, for once, Siri? Regulus suggested sweetly.

~o0o~

"...If I'm an Auror I can help recapture Voldemort." Harry explained to Hermione, trying very hard not to think about Dora. "…And I don't think I could go back to school. Everyone will be so much younger and I feel much too old in myself."

"…You should definitely train as an Auror." Hermione suggested, a touch absently. "It's what you always wanted, Harry."

.

'..._Why would you rather go back to Hogwarts!'_ Ron had shouted angrily, '_I need you! Weasley Wizard supplies is making pure galleons and we need your brain to sort out the accounts. It's a family business, Hermione! Do you want to be part of this family, or not?'_

_Do you want to be part of this family or not? _Ron had yelled at her, red faced, spit flying.

Later, they'd been lying on his bed. She'd been curled against his chest and he'd stroked her hair and told her he wanted to get married and have babies.

Hermione had visions of herself turning into Molly.

She loved Ron. She wanted him to be happy. They had been through so much together. He and Harry had been her only real friends since she had been a lonely and homesick eleven year old.

But she didn't want to do the accounts for the family business and have lots of babies.

She felt disloyal and confused.

"...It _is_ what I want." Harry agreed. "But I want to prove myself. I want to getting into the Aurors the same way anyone else would. But I can't imagine going back to school, now; not after everything we've been through. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes." Hermione said. "I think you should go to Auror training."

She thought Harry was lucky, in a way, that Ginny _had_ dumped him; because he'd never have dumped her, but now he was free to do whatever he wanted. He didn't have to feel disloyal and guilty.

_But wasn't it disloyal to herself_, Hermione wondered,_ to stay with someone who expected her to get married and have babies when she really wanted to study and learn and change the world for the better?_

.

"…Or you could come back to Hogwarts with me." She added, not entirely sure what Harry had just said. "Minerva and the School Board have asked Remus to return, to teach Defence against the Dark Arts. I imagine he might like you to help him, considering what you did with the DA."

"Oh..." Harry said, trying not to picture how incredibly uncomfortable those classes would now be. "...I think I definitely want to be an Auror." He stated, firmly.


	119. Chapter 119

"…I'm just going to pop home." Remus shouted, over the noise of Regulus vomiting repeatedly into a bowl, and Teddy howling hysterically because Sirius had 'abandoned' him to help his brother. "…But I'll come back, Sirius, as soon as I can… If he doesn't get any better, call me through the floo."  
"No floo powder." Sirius said, his voice lost in Teddy's howls.

"Right… Send your patronus then, if it's urgent."

Neither of them knew if Sirius could send a corporal patronus, capable of passing on verbal messages; or if Sirius could create any sort of patronus at all, after Azkaban, after the obliviation of half his memories, happy and otherwise.

"Yeah. It's fine." Sirius snapped, knocking Regulus' over tight grasp off his wrist. Regulus covered his mouth for a moment, before vomiting a swirling mixture of stinking yellow bile and hundreds upon _hundreds_ of tiny writhing wriggling slugs.

"Oh, it was _that_ hex." Remus said, slightly too cheerfully. "That's a quite harmless hex. Not pleasant, but perfectly harmless. No…" He paused, watching Regulus retching violently before choking up a surprisingly firm mucus-coated slug, as big as a man's fist. "Would you look at that," he said, "they seem to have been growing while you were unconscious, Reg. All I was going to say is that it's recommended not to use a counter curse. It's much safer to let it wear-off in its own time."

"Shut your mouth, halfbreed!" Regulus gasped, coughing up another slug while receiving a clout around the head from his brother.

Remus removed Reggie's wand away from the bedside, laughing.

"Much safer to let it wear-off on its own." He said, again. "I'll be back at…! _Sirius_,_ I'll be back_…!"

He gave up shouting over Teddy's screams, and passed the baby back to Sirius.

The resulting silence suggested someone had flicked a mute switch.

The smug smile on Sirius' handsome face was just a little too annoying to be funny. "I'll come back this evening to make sure Reg is alright." Remus told him, at a normal volume.

"Kreacher can look after him." Sirius took the baby into the hallway, away from Regulus' mucusy retching and offensive insults. "Now we know he's not dying, Kreacher can see to him. If the wretched elf ever shows up... Maybe he's curled up and died somewhere." He added, slightly too brightly.

"In which case, who would clean up the buckets of vomit and slugs?" Remus said, watching Teddy trying to kiss, or more likely suck, Sirius' face.

"You would, Moony." Sirius assured him, sweetly. "Now bugger off. You said you'd come back as soon as you've shown your face at home for the required length of time."

"I said I'd come back to check on Reg." Remus said, taking the baby away from Sirius. Ignoring Sirius glare and Teddy's immediate return to screaming, he headed out into the street and disapparated to his home.

.

He was already slightly late, but thankfully Tonks was not yet back from work.

He upended a box of toys, scattering them over the living room to make it look lived in, and sat a delighted Teddy in their centre, while he opened some tins of Any Flavour soup, sliced bread and opened a bottle of Molly's elderflower wine.

Tonks was actually very late back from work. She often was.

Auror's worked long and often unpredictable hours.

Remus had eaten with Sirius, while Regulus was sleeping. Even if he hadn't, he probably wouldn't have been hungry after watching the slugs being vomited up.

He fed Teddy and left the soup out, so that Tonks could see he had made it for them.

Reluctantly he put Teddy to bed. He waited, impatiently, pacing the room and toying with the idea that Regulus may have grown vast, unvomitable slugs in his stomach, while unconscious, requiring him to go back to Grimmauld Place.

He could leave a note for Tonks; but he didn't want to. He'd only seen her briefly that morning, and they hadn't talked about the job offer at Hogwarts, at all.

She had been supportive, because she'd been in a strange mood.

Realistically, this required a lot of talk.

Realistically Tonks wouldn't want to sacrifice her Auror career to live in the teachers quarters at Hogwarts with Teddy.

He wouldn't expect her to. They weren't Muggles. She could work in London. He could work in Scotland. They could use apparition, the floo network, to see each other.

But she would want Molly, Remus was certain, to look after Teddy.

Molly would want to look after Teddy.

And Remus, much as he liked Molly, didn't want that.

An Auror's hours were long, as today emphasized. A teachers hours weren't long. They were technically short, with plenty of gaps in them through the day. Marking and lesson preperation could easily be done with a baby playing on the rug. And Teddy was used to Remus looking after him.

There was a lot to be discussed.

He waited until eight at night, before throwing floo power into the fire, and shoving his head into Grimmauld Place's drafty kitchen.

.

"Why didn't you come back?" Sirius demanded, stalking into the room, to pace the floor in front of the fire. Remus, neck bent at an impossibly uncomfortable angle, watched his boots clicking on the slate floor.

"Tonks is working late." He explained. "How's Reg?"

"Where's Teddy?" Sirius asked, scowling at nothing in particular.

"I've put him to bed." Remus said, wondering how old Sirius felt in his head, after Azkaban and James' oblivious spell. "I need to talk to Tonks about going to Hogwarts." He added, trying to shift into a more comfortable position.

"Why say you're coming back then?" Sirius snapped, not bothering to look round at the fire.

"Because I planned to come back once I'd spoken to her." Remus clarified, pointlessly. "But now I need to talk about this. Is Reg alright?"

"Fine. Asleep." Sirius snapped and he walked out of the room.

Remus removed his head from the fire, listening for any sign that Teddy was awake, before going back into his own kitchen and clearing up the uneaten food.

.

It was was one thirty in the morning when he came back into the floo.

The fire in Grimmauld Place had been out and a cloud of ash filled the room.

Sirius, asleep in the armchair, groaned.

"Tonks never came back from work." Remus said at once. "I haven't heard anything from Mad-eye either..."

They considered it in silence. This hadn't happened in the Second Wizarding War. But it had happened in the first one; a fact neither of them needed to acknowledge.

Remus had his sleeping son, slumped against is shoulder. He passed him unquestioningly into the room.

"Don't come with me." He told Sirius, calmly. "Don't leave this house till I get back."

"Get Harry." Sirius said. "Unless he's with James."

.

Harry wasn't with James.

Nor was he with the Weasleys.

The watery light of morning was making Remus' eyes ache, when he finally tracked Harry down; already awake, dressed and eating an early breakfast in The Leaky Cauldron.

Harry knocked his chair backwards, standing up in what looked a lot like alarm as Remus ducked through the door and across the quiet room.

"Hi!" Harry said. "Were you looking for me?"

"Clearly." Remus moved the chair back for him. "But finish your breakfast. It's not that urgent."

Harry didn't.

He stayed, hovering.

"…I hear you've been offered your job at Hogwarts back." He said. "Congratulations! That's great."

"Did Tonks tell you?" Remus asked him.

"No." Harry shook his head. "No. No, Hermione said. I…"

…_hate lying? ...feel like I should explain myself? ...can't imagine how I could explain myself. …have no idea if Dora has said anything to you. Why do you call your wife 'Tonks'?_

"…I won't be there; at Hogwarts. Kingsley's asked me to train as an Auror."

"That's really good news." Remus assured him. "Tonks didn't tell me. I don't suppose you've heard from her, have you?" Remus added.

"No." Harry assured him. "No. I've been here. On my own."

"I'm sorry you didn't manage to patch things up with Ginny," Remus said, taking a seat with him. Harry was struck, not for the first time, how kind and decent Remus actually was. He watched Remus ordering a mug of tea and stirring it carefully, while he tried to think what to say.

"…She's going to train with the Holyhead Harpies; Ginny is." He said. "I'm really glad for her."

"Yes. That's fantastic. She did Gryffindor proud as Seeker. As did you, Harry. Although I doubt you'll have much time for Quidditch once you're doing your Auror training. It's what you always wanted to do, wasn't it?"

"Yes, definitely." Harry agreed, at once. "Do you know if Sirius is alright?"

"He's fine." Remus said, moving his mug aside as soon as Harry set his cutlery together on his plate. "He wanted to see you, if it was convenient."

"Sirius 'wanted to see me'?" Harry said, thinking that sounded rather formal, and wondering for the first time if his plan to '_talk to Sirius about the kiss'_ wasn't such a brilliant idea after all.

"Sirius wants to see me, with you?" He clarified, increasingly sure he was going to have to say something to Remus about kissing his wife, even if it was only to try to explain, to apologise… to stop feeling as despicable as he now felt...

.

"I have to go to The Ministry!" Harry remembered suddenly. "That's why I'm up so early. Kingsley wanted to see me."

He had wondered if he would run into Dora, while at The Ministry. Had thought maybe a little too carefully about what his hair was doing and what clothes he was wearing, in case he ran into her, looking around the Auror department or something; maybe stopping to share a drink and a chat about what it was like to be an Auror. Why had any of that seemed fine before he'd seen Remus, face to face?

"Alright." Remus agreed. "I'll come to The Ministry with you, first."

"Right." Harry said. "Thanks."

_He still thinks I'm fourteen,_ he concluded. _I am vastly closer to Dora's age than he is, but he thinks I'm a child, even though I almost single-handedly saved the Wizarding World.  
_

.

They headed out into the sleepy street. Harry staring at Remus' needlessly tatty robes and greying hair, almost hoping Remus would ask him what was wrong.

Remus asked nothing at all, watching the seemingly quiet street, where not one, but two wizards were now carefully following them towards the Ministry.

Harry's obvious teenage angst was, he was now certain, the very least of their troubles.


	120. Chapter 120

Lord Voldemort was naked.

Complete naked.

In the new skin it felt strange and rather luxuriant. He was lounging on a jumble of silk and satin pillows; Rodolphus Lestrange's pillows, on Rodolphus Lestrange's broad bed, in Rodolphus' cool high-ceilinged bedroom.

The tapestries on the wall, the dogs sleeping by the hearth, they were all Rodolphus'.

Had been.

Now they were his.

Lord Voldemort was pleased.

Rodolphus' naked wife was curled against him, her long dark hair falling around pale body, over which his eyes ran, studying her; another of his new possessions.

He liked the way her legs were so thin that they couldn't truly close, and the way her hip bones jutted out, crudely overemphasising the female parts of her body; or the lack there of, as far as breasts went, he thought with a smirk.

He enjoyed the feeling of his own smile, the muscles beneath his thick skin and the stubble on his jaw. He pinched the soft pale flesh on her soft belly, squeezing hard enough to make her grit her teeth, before becoming distracted by her fragile collarbone, which looked like it could be snapped by a thumb, pushed hard enough against it.

He liked the smell of her skin.

He liked very much that she looked like an emaciated pathetic version of Walburga; but naked, and young again, and fawning over him.

Lord Voldemort found this amusing.

He found it so amusing that he laughed aloud, and was enchanted by the sound of his own laughter; deep and rich, and nothing like the weird high pitched laughter that had emanated from the deformed body Wormtail had created for him, from the body of that baby, in which he'd been so thoughtlessly cast into the cauldron last time.

For a moment his mind swam with the memories of the smooth, hairless body the Wormtail had created for him… The nose-less face, the high sexless voice.

It didn't matter now.

He didn't care.

Settling further into the pile of cushions, he watched Bellatrix running her nails over his broad chest, the sensation tickling his thick dark chest hair. He laughed again, as thrilled by the sound, as he had been by his own physical strength.

Snatching hold of Bellatrix, by a fistful of her dark curls, he shoved her down onto the mattress, enjoying the feeling of power. He twisted her hair hard, so he could feel her muscles tightening beneath him, could watch them pinching her face up into an ugly grimace of pain.

Bellatrix had done well to give him this body, he thought.

James Potter, he corrected scornfully, had done well to have given him this body.

Bellatrix had technically failed. Although this was better; much better than Walburga's boyish son; the heir of the House of Black. That had seemed like such a wise choice, when Lord Voldemort had been no more than insubstantial spirit; how laughable, now that he was a real man once more.

~o0o~

The boyish heir of the House of Black was asleep, in an armchair, an arm slung loosely over a baby, obviously not his own, that rested carefully on his chest.

"Sirius!" James snapped, lifting the baby high into the air and receiving the most reflexive punch he'd ever received. It was _almost_ impressive.

He moved the now crying baby firmly away from Sirius. Handing babies to people who punched other people while they were holding babies, was on the same level of stupidity, in James's book, as going to sleep in an armchair with a baby on top of you; and he was probably drunk.

Sirius, not the baby.

"Have you been drinking?" James demanded, scanning the floor for evidence.

"Why would I be?" Sirius snapped. "I was looking after Teddy."

"Who is completely adorable." Lily said, taking the baby from her husband's arms and jiddling as she searched Grimmald Place's kitchen for a well concealed fridge, of anywhere else Sirius or Remus might think to store a babies milk. "…He looks just like you, Sirius." She added, blithely. "…Just saying."

"That is _so_ inappropriate!" James assured her, pushing his glasses up his nose and, for a moment, casting a highly critical look over Sirius, who was also now searching for something that would pass as baby food. "...Dora is a metamorphmagus!" He added firmly, and loudly enough to be heard over Teddy's increasing wails. "She is awesome. … Is it very inappropriate to just 'silencio' a baby? It's not like having him screaming in my ears is going to make us find milk faster!"

"_Yes!"_ Lily assured him, laughing. "It _is_ very inappropriate to 'silencio' a baby! Sirius, what do _you _eat!? No wonder you're so thin!"  
"He needs a wife!" James assured her. "And God only knows who, because everyone's twenty years too old now…"

Sirius left them to retrieve bread and butter from the meal he'd shared with Remus the night before. Teddy always liked chewing on bread crusts, because he was getting teeth.

.

"Excellent... Good Fidelius Charm…" James added, watching the silenced baby. "…Only works for people, of course. No problem for The Master of Death."

"The Master of Death just doesn't make like a 'good guy'," Lily told her husband, lying Teddy on the table so she could remove his soggy nappy. "Can you maybe re-brand yourself as The Master of Light and Life, or something? And if I'm going to look after Teddy here." She added. "One of you Masters of Death will need to buy some bottles, formula milk and some nappies."

"We shall get onto that." James assured her. "Although, for the record, Lil, there can be only one Master of Death."

.

James donned the invisibility cloak. Sirius vanished into Padfoot, and slipped beneath its folds, and they headed out into the blustery street.

A clock chimed eleven as they headed briskly away from the house, and away from any eyes that may be watching.

When they reached the bustle of a busier streets and a suitably Muggle supermarket, James removed the cloak and Sirius returned to his human form, deeming it highly unlikely that they would he recognised, in such a Muggle area.

"So," James asked him, at once. "Where is Remus?"

Sirius told him, quietly, about the late night visit; how Tonks had failed to return home from work and Mad-eye had also been uncontactable.

James, who'd spoken to Remus after this, when he'd been looking for Harry, could shed no further light on anyone's current situation. Maybe even more so than Sirius, James remembered the silent disappearances of the first war, every week more people vanished without trace, most of them found dead long afterwards.

"No matter what," He told Sirius, calmly. "Lily is staying behind the Fidelius. She can watch Remus' baby for now. And we'll do what we can to trace Dora."

"And Harry." Sirius said. "And Remus." James didn't say anything, pushing his glasses up his nose and studied the tins of powdered baby milk.

"We get everyone we can into hiding." He told Sirius, selecting a tin. "And then we find Voldemort, and we kill him. _Again._"


	121. Chapter 121

**AN: I splashed my laptop with juice and it wouldn't stop writing 4's. Very sad :( Also real life keeping me busy. Sorry about the delay in posting.**

A queue of bored looking Wizards were waiting to enter the Ministry for Magic, via it's visitor's entrance; the public toilets in Whitehall.

Harry, who'd spent the morning wondering about Kingsley's surprisingly formal looking invitation to meet him, was now devoting all his mental power to Remus; to feeling like a creep; and to imagining conversations involving the words 'kissing' and 'wife' and all ended equally badly.

.

Harry hadn't noticed that two wizards followed them across London, nor that they took up position in the queue a discreet distance behind his back. He did notice the dreadful Rita Skeeter, dressed in a scarlet skirt suit, interviewing an important looking wizard, not far from them and put himself judiciously behind Remus who called out to her, politely.

Shiny eyes peered over the top of Rita's green-framed glasses, flicking distastefully over Remus's tatty robes before she dismissed him with a curt, "busy, thank you…"

Before the words had escaped the painted mouth, she spotted Harry and delight rapidly replaced astonishment. Discarding earnest Ministry official mid-sentence, she shot over to them.

"_Harry!_" She cooed in affected delight. "Harry Potter! What a delightful surprise! Long-time no see! What brings the saviour of the Wizarding World to The Ministry, on this mundane September morning? Why no Hogwarts for Harry? For that matter, how has our heroic orphan found himself in such disreputable and possibly dangerous company?"

"Dangerous in what way?" Harry snapped, bristling on Remus' behalf.

"Oh, of course, of course!" Rita agreed. She turned to beckon over a gum-chewing youth, who frantically scribbled down her every word with a fluffy purple quill.

Harry watched each word the boy wrote floating off the parchment; appearing as curling tendrils of smoke. Rita's 'oh, of course, of course!' drifted purposefully away to an unknown destination.

Behind the boy with the quill, hurried a photographer, who thrust a camera up into Harry's face, snapping wildly; his flash blinding.

"…Heroic Harry naively speaks out in defense of Werewolf rights!" Rita cried, clapping her hands in delight. The quill in the boys hands scribbled faster, and the smoke words spiraled up into the air.

"Yes, I do, actually." Harry snapped. "And stop taking photographs of us, Rita."

"Fueled by rage after his hard won battle, exhausted Harry Potter fails to find…"  
"_Silencio_." Remus calmly cut her off.

Rita's brightly painted lips froze, her muscles twitch angrily and she snatched a wand from the glossy green bag hanging from her wrist.

"…_How dare you!_ _The stories I could write about you, Lupin!_" She spat, angrily.

"That's certainly flattering." Remus said, managing (Harry thought) to sound perfectly courteous. Rita studied him, her tongue clicking against the roof of her mouth, as she weighed him up. Resurrecting her megawatt smile, Rita got a firm grip on Harry's arm.

"How about a private interview, Harry?" She suggested, optimistically. "Just you, me and somewhere nice and quiet? Our readers would love to know all the spicy and entertaining ways our young hero (now of age) likes to celebrate his victory."

"Who are your current readers, Rita?" Remus asked her.

"The highest bidder, if I'm selling an exclusive interview with Harry Potter." Rita said, eyes sparkling hungrily. "All this power, Harry, and you're holding out on me. Tell your public about Werewolf rights, such a controversial issue. Does the young Harry Potter believe notorious Fenrir Greyback should be tried as a man or slaughtered like the beast he is?"

Harry, unaware that Fenrir Greyback _had_ recently been captured, hesitated; not actually certain whether he did think Fenrir Greyback deserved to be given a trial or not.

"We're busy, thank you, Rita." He said instead. "Get your photographer out of our faces or I'll make an official complaint about you."

"The legendary 'Harry Potter Temper' rears its head once again!" Rita dictated to the boy with the enchanted quill.

"Harry's been invited to a meeting with the Minister." Remus told her; treacherously, Harry would have said, if anyone but Remus had come out with this information. "Who's getting the dictation, Rita?" He added, , gesturing at the vanishing trail of smoke words.

"The Prophet." Rita said quickly, eyes flicking hungrily between them, before her false smile settled on Remus. "…and Witch Weekly, if it's a story about Harry."

"And clearly it is about Harry." Remus pointed out.

Harry turned on his former professor, wondering suddenly if Remus did in fact know that Harry had done vastly inappropriate things with his drunken wife, and planned to punish him in a calm and horribly public way. He could slightly believe that Remus might be calm enough, and cross enough to do that.

.

Harry entered the Ministry's atrium with Remus at his side; Rita Skeeter, cloying to his other side, and the photographer, the boy with the enchanted quill, and a handful of curious onlookers, trailing behind them. Tendrils of wispy scribbled words trailed in the air, and the audience gathered steadily.

Silently Harry followed Remus to the Welcome Desk.

"…Who are the tails, Harry?" Rita interrupted her constant stream of rude and intrusive questions to gesture at the crowd behind them.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Nothing sweetie." Rita assured him, before adding to the boy with the magic quill "…moronic Harry Potter, painfully oblivious to the wizards tailing him across London…"  
"Who is trailing me across London?" Harry demanded.

"Green hat and his fat friend with the whiskers." Rita said, jabbing into the crowd. "So, how about a topless photograph? Nothing gets people's attention like bare celebrity flesh, Harry. Something tasteful, maybe how do you feel about wearing wolf fur?"

"That's a suggestion worth considering." Remus agreed, coming back to usher them closer together, as Arthur and Percy Weasley appeared, hurrying from the lifts.

"No, it isn't." Harry said, firmly.

"Harry!" Arthur cried, loudly. "What are you doing here! This is a surprise!"

"Yes, _such a 'surprise'_." Percy said, with a hint of humour that Harry had never seen him display before. "Where did you want us, Remus?"

"What's going on?" Harry demanded. "Why are we being followed, and… and what is everybody doing here?"

A rather pale faced Regulus Black had just stumbled into the Atrium, with Professor Slughorn, still wearing his school robes. He raised a hand at Harry, before pressing it to his pale lips, and trying not to retch.

"Regulus works here," Remus pointed out, helpfully. "And we are being followed because Grimmauld Place, is still watched, even if they can't remember why, or which house they were watching."

Kingsley Shacklebolt strode over to them, a crowd of the red and blue cloaked Unspeakables trailing in his wake. He clasped Harry's hand, firmly in his own.

"It's good to see you, Harry." He said, holding the pose politely as Rita's photographer snapped another flurry of photographs. A trail of tiny square pictures joined the smoke words, floating purposefully towards the roof. "That's quite an entourage you've acquired, Harry." Kingsley added, with a chuckle. "Maybe we can get a little privacy in my office?" "Yes. Thanks." Harry said, tripping as Remus caught his arm.

"Any news on my wife, Kingsley?" Remus asked, politely.

"I am aware she hasn't been into work." Kingsleys said at once. "I wish I could offer something more reassuring. She's a clever young woman, and I have my best wizards on the job."

"I'm very grateful," Remus assured him, still holding Harry. "As Albus said to us, Kingsley, the last time we spoke to him together..."

Harry looked round at Remus, sharply. His stomach turned over in alarm, because Harry knew very well the last thing Dumbledore had said to Remus and Kingsley, it was to _trust Harry_. The night Mad-eye had died, Remus had demanded Kingsley repeat it, to prove he hadn't been replaced by an imposter. The last thing Dumbledore had said to the two of them was, '_Harry is the best hope we have, Trust him._'

And Harry was supposed to be trustworthy.

He was supposed to be a _hero_, but instead he'd had a couple of drinks and snogged Remus' wife.

Harry was sure now that Remus did know and intended to publicly humiliate him, here, in the Ministry of Magic, with reporters and as many familiar faces present as possible.

"Remus…Wait, _what_?" He said, suddenly. "Dora is missing?"

"Yes." Kingsley nodded. "We have our best wizards searching for her. Go down to her office, Remus." Kingsley waved him through the cluster of Unspeakables. "We'll speak in my office, Harry."

"Thank you." Harry said to Kingsley, carefully moving his arm free of Remus grip. "…I didn't know Dora was missing." He added. "How long has she been missing? I'm sure she wouldn't leave Teddy. …Or Remus." He added, realising how this might sound.

"She won't have left Teddy out of choice." Remus agreed. "And Rita is keen to accompany Harry, Minister." He said, with a touch of a smile. Rita waved, smiling brightly as Kingsley's looked at her. He did not wave back. "As Albus said, the last time we spoke…" Remus pressed on, again catching Harry's arm and holding him back as Kingsley moved to rescue Harry, again.

"What did Albus say?" Rita demanded, elbowing Harry in the ribs in her effort to get close to the Minister for Magic. "The Wizarding World wishes to know. What tip-bits of wisdom did the great Albus Dumbledore share with our favourite werewolf and the Minister for Magic himself?"

"He told us The Ministry was the best hope we had. To trust in it." Remus told her.

"Yes." Kingsley said. "Indeed Albus did. He is sorely missed."

.

Harry watched the words appear in the air, swirling free of the magic quill and drifting away, presumably to Rita's office at The Prophet.

Words that were incorrect.

Remus put his hand gently on Harry's arm again. "If you don't mind, Harry," he said politely, "we would very much like to stay with you, to while you speak to the Minister."

"Yes." Harry said, firmly. "Yes, of course. That would be great."

He tried to catch Remus' eye, purely to confirm that Remus too acknowledged that _The Minister for Magic_, the man in charge of The Ministry and the entire Wizarding World, had just failed to answer the 'safe question' meant to prove his identity. But Remus had moved ahead of him now, letting Rita and her assistant, the photographer, and Arthur and Percy Weasley join them.

"…I trust our 'mutual friend' is keeping his nose out of trouble." Kingsley was saying meaningfully, to Remus, as they went ahead of him into the office.

"I wish I knew," Remus assured, equally discretely. "But we never speak. Never got on with my wife. Speaking of Dora…"

Harry turned back, waiting for Rita Skeeter, her photographer, and the boy with the enchanted quill to join them.

Never could Harry have imagined he would be glad to have the horrible reporter accompanying him, anywhere, but he couldn't help wondering, what would have happened to him, had he gone alone into this office, with a Minister for Magic that was clearly not Kingsley Shacklebolt at all.


	122. Chapter 122

**AN: I'm honestly not sure about this chapter. It was hard to write.  
**

**~o0o~**

If the Master of Death had talents (and he certainly did) Sirius had some talents that were all his own. At least James hoped he still had them, because he'd been waiting impatiently under his invisibility cloak for hours; stamping his feet to keep the circulation in them, and tapping the Elder Wand restlessly against the back of his knuckles.

James hated waiting and Sirius had left him _hours _ago_._

Lily and Teddy were safe within 12 Grimmauld Place, and they had tracked Harry and Remus down to The Ministry. So, from Reggie's directions, they had headed over to his fiance's house; the home of the Carrow twins, their mother and their uncle, Alecto and Amycus.

.

The cloaking spells were, as usual, designed to hide the location from humans. They proved totally ineffective against a dog's brain. James had watched Padfoot pick up the women's scent and, nose to the ground, vanish snuffily through what appeared to be a solid brick wall.

James was sure his own animagus could have managed to pick up a scent, just as well, and probably would have had no problem getting through a illusionary wall that was designed to stop humans, but a dogs nose had been bred to detect the finer nuances of a scent trail. Not that Sirius would have stayed canine. He would hopefully now be his handsome self, sweet-talking Hestia or maybe even Alecto Carrow. James was actually pondering whether Sirius would have tried to get the information from Hestia or her mother, when _Amycus_ Carrow hurried past him, using his wand to vanish the wall and hurrying up into the house behind.

Still beneath the invisibility cloak, James picked up his pace and followed after the dirty little man.

The Carrow's home was ancient and absolutely filthy.

Two house-elves jumped before Amycus, bowing low and crying out a loud greeting as he entered the hall. James watched him boot the slower of the two out of his way, sharpening his pace suspiciously and shouting for his sister, in his loud wheezy voice.

"...Hello Uncle Amycus!" The twins chorused, long black braids flying as they hurried into the hallway, to stand hand in hand between their uncle and the stairwell.

"Get out of my way!" Amycus shouted at them. "Alecto! Alecto! Get down here! …stupid ugly bitch." He added, glaring at the two girls for a moment. The twins were perfectly still, holding hands, expressionlessly blocking his way.

Apparently even Amycus found them slightly unnerving as he spat on his own floor and turned to the left, stalking off into what appeared to be a fly infested kitchen.

There was a click and fizz of a bottle being opened.

The twins, still blocking the stairwell, turned to face each other, their lips curling up in identical smiles.

James watched the identical pairs of small sharp eyes turn upwards, as they listened for sounds above the ceiling.

Carefully he climbed over the banister, to bypass the twins, and crept up to the first and apparently only upper floor. He could hear Sirius' laughter, behind the furthest door, and the distinctive wheezy female giggling of Alecto Carrow.

James, like Sirius, had still been at Hogwarts when Alecto started. He thought Sirius deserved some sort of award, and maybe a bath in bleach, if he'd been _this_ successful in 'chatting up' the ugly pig-faced torturer of children.

Hearing Amycus again in the hallway below him, James tapped lightly on the door. There was a moment's stunned silence, then a frantic scuffling within. Alecto carefully unlocked and opened the door, stupid piggy eyes widening as she peered into the empty hallway.

"…Amycus?" She asked, quietly.

Another glance, directly through James and his invisibility cloak, and she turned back into the room. "It's not him… He's not there." She whispered.

"Oh, right..." Sirius appeared, from behind the door. "...that'll be for me then," he assured her. And slammed his fist into the side of jaw, holding her flabby upper-arm as he lowered her slumped and unconscious body to the ground.

.

James removed the cloak, wrinkling his nose in distaste at just about every single thing Sirius had just done.

"That doesn't count as hitting women, Prongs." Sirius assured him, with a charming smile. "That's more 'cruelty to animals'. And weren't you meant to be waiting outside?"

"'Unless Amycus showed up', which he has." James said. "He's downstairs now. The scary twins have stalled him, presumably because you told them to?"

"Of course. Good." Sirius said, brightly. "Voldemort is holed up in the Lestrange's old family estate and he's got some of his favourites writing up lists of 'undesirables' to abduct. Dora's one of the abducted, but Alecto thinks she's still alive; that they want information from her."

"Oh, thank God for that!" James exclaimed. "Did Alecto know where they're holding her?"

"Yes." Sirius assured him. "She did."

"Which is...?" James asked, impatiently. "Where?"

"_I don't know_." Sirius assured him. "I was working up to asking. She wasn't leaping to volunteer the information, Prongs."

"You're the one who knocked her out." James snapped, crossly. He peered at the unconscious witch, trying to think. "Should we...? We could interrogate her together, maybe?" He suggested.

"She tortures _children _for_ fun."_ Sirius told him, treading over Alecto with a sneer of revulsion, and closing the door on her. "Your interrogation of her would be laughable, James."

"I can interrogate people." James assured him, crossly. "I can do anything if I have to, _Sirius_."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Sirius scoffed, flashing him another grin, before he headed down the corridor. "...The daughters will know." He said. "Voldemort's been handing out retribution to his unfaithful. I went to Alecto because they wouldn't talk. But I'll get it out of them as quickly as I can. Come on, Prongs, we've wasted enough time here already."

.

"_Amycus is in the kitchen!_" The two girls hissed, rushing to stop Sirius descending the stairs. "What did mother say? Did you talk to her about the house and Reggie?"

"Yeah, that's all good," Sirius whispered, brightly.

He trod on the edge of James' cloak as he backed up a couple of steps. James yanked it free, and backed up Sirius did.

"…You should hide upstairs." One of the twins was whispering, tugging nervously at Sirius, so he'd go further up. "He'll kill you, if he finds you here. And he's only in the kitchen."

"He's drinking beer." The other twin said. The one holding Sirius paused, looking up at him with a naughty smile, that was mirrored on the other's identical face.

"..Which we've _poisoned,_" her twin added, with a merciless giggle.

"Oh. Good thinking," Sirius agreed. "What with?"

"_Deadly Nightshade,"_ they chorused in whispered unison. The identical smiles returning to their pale little faces, as they settled on the stairs either side of him, nervously. "...And he's drinking it." Twin one, added.

"Right… Good thinking, then," Sirius said again, not entirely convincingly. The twin that James assumed was Hestia, reached up and touched Sirius' arm, cautiously, keeping hold of him.

"It's very painless." She whispered softly. "…I think."

"No; _it isn't_." The other twin giggled, tiptoeing down two steps to hang over the banister and peer into the kitchen. "…but we don't like him anyway," she added, sweetly. "He said we couldn't live with Reggie. He would have stopped us going with you."

"Yes," Hestia agreed, sitting beside Sirius on the steps. "He doesn't like you."

"He doesn't like Reggie, much." Flora whispered, from her vantage point at the bottom of the stairs. "…and he definitely doesn't like you."

"Well, it's for the best then, isn't it." Sirius agreed, taking out his wand and setting it carefully on his lap, as he sat next to Hestia.

"…It might take a while." Hestia added, wiggling herself cautiously, shifting closer against Sirius' side and looking up at him, watching his expression, nervously. "Should we go upstairs?"

"We'll all wait, together." Flora said, narrowing her eyes at her twin.

"Yes, Hestia," the twin sitting beside Sirius said, sweetly. "Let's all wait together."

.

James, who was hovering behind them all, shivered beneath the invisibility cloak. He did not like the Carrows at all. They were dirty, uneducated and inbred; horrible blood-purists who were the very worst kind of wizards. But these twins had their own horrible brand of scary going on.

He knew they were the same age as his son, but they looked disturbingly young, short like their mother but with a teenage lankiness to then..

The twin sitting with Sirius shifted yet again, checking his expression with all the nervousness of a highly sheltered teen, and ran a hand nervously over his arm again. Sirius moved his arm, putting it around her thin waist, with one of his sweeter smiles.

"It will be alright." He murmured, quietly.

"Amycus is always shouting." The other twin was saying. Mimicing their uncle, "He '_only wants what's best for us'_." The girl sitting beside Sirius smiled at him with a tooth-baring grin.

"He _really_ should have listened to what you wanted," Sirius suggested, moving the girl beside him tighter against his chest, watching her carefully with his silvery eyes.

The girl giggled, her pale cheeks flushing a bright pink.

James jabbed Sirius hard between the shoulder blades, with the Elder Wand.

"…He's still drinking it." Flora giggled, on the lower steps.

"I wish he'd drink it faster." Hestia said, cautiously straightening a crease in Sirius trousers and glancing cautiously up at his face before moving her small hand to rest loosely against his thigh.

James jabbed Sirius in the back again, hard, with the point of his wand.

"I'll check your mother's still sleeping." Sirius said, disentangling the twin, and moving quickly back up the stairs.

.

"_What the hell is the matter with you, James?_" he snarled, groping blindly for him, in the apparently empty corridor.

"With me! Can you not be so incredibly inappropriate with girls half your age!" James hissed, revealing his disembodied head. "There is a line, Sirius, and you are not on the right side of it!"

"My cousin is missing and they know how to get her back," Sirius growled, eyes on the staircase. "_You shove that wand in my back again, James, and I'll snap it_."

"…You'll 'snap the Elder Wand'?" James clarified, an eyebrow rising above the rim of his glasses. "Just... Think what you're doing, yeah?"

"Snap it and shove it up your nose." Sirius told him.

James snorted angrily, flinging the cloak back over his head as little footsteps pattered up the stairs.

.

_"He's fallen down!"_ A twin hissed, clutching hold of Sirius rather fearfully. "_He's kicking about on the floor and panting, but he hasn't vomited._"

"It'll be fine, Flora." Sirius assured her, calmly.

"_Hestia_." The twin, _and James,_ said at once. "I get Mother…" She added, stepping towards Alecto's bedroom door. Sirius caught her arm, hauling her back and slamming his mouth over hers, kissing her with much enthusiasm.

"…Yeah, don't wake your mother." He said, straightening up.

Hestia peeled her eyes open and stared up at him, open mouthed and pink cheeked.

"Okay." She agreed.

Sirius watched her for a moment, pale silver eyes drifting over her smooth flushed skin, her obviously pounding chest. "Where is the Dark Lord holding Undesirables?" He asked, evenly.

"…What?" Hestia blinked, trying to think. "The what?"

"Undesirables." Sirius said. "I want to get my cousin."

"The Metamorphmagus Auror?" Hestia asked him, uncertainly. "You can't."

"She can make herself look like Amycus." Sirius said, confidently. "It will look like he's happy for you to stay with Reggie and Flora."

"Why would she help us?" Flora asked, appearing at the top of the stairs. "I think Amycus is dead." She added. He's not moving."

"Good. And she'll help because we're rescuing her." Sirius said. "It's a bit late to get cold feet now, Flora."

He turned back to Hestia and, as far as James could tell, remembered he was better at kissing than convincing arguments, as he pressed her carefully back against the wall, and pressed their lips together once more.

"..._Mother is in her room._" Flora reminded them, uneasily.

"She'll be fine." Sirius lifted his head again, silver eyes moving carefully over and over Hestia's face. "So?" He asked. "Where's Nymphadora Tonks?"

"She's in Lucius Malfoy's house." Hestia said.

"There's a dungeon. You have to say the password, and there's a spiral staircase." Flora added.

"Which is?" Sirius prompted, with a touch of impatience.

"The password is 'Antares'." Hestia told him.

"Thanks." Sirius said. "You deal with Flora, James." And he dropped Hestia's waist, leveled his wand on the tip of her nose and cast '_Obliviate!'_

The force of the spell flung her backwards into the wall.

The force of her horrified sister's hex, flung Sirius the length of the hallway, his leg twisting beneath him with a sharp crack as he smashed into Alecto's bedroom door.

James hurriedly stunned Flora and removed the invisibility cloak, pulling Sirius onto his feet. "That was… a bit rum." He stated, honestly.

"_Don't be pathetic,"_ Sirius snapped, grimacing as he limped over to the wall. "Why don't you go and see if Amycus is actually dead?"

"Do you want me to fix your ankle first?" James suggested, looking down at little Hestia, slumped against the skirting board.

"No, I bloody don't," Sirius growled, teeth clenched together as he prodded at it with his own wand. "I want you to have dealt with Flora when I told said, rather than waiting for her to pull a wand on me."

"Sorry." James said_, _pullinghis gaze off the obliviated Hestia again and hurrying down the stairs.

Sirius stepped over her, still limping slightly as he followed James to the ground floor.


	123. Chapter 123

**AN: Posting this in a frantic dash between sleepovers, swimming pools and impending rain. Thank you for Reviews :) Diana Shan, Snarky, Molotov, Kazo Sakamari and Iolana :) Yay!**

**Only had to delete the odd 444 from this chapter ;) and glad (but surprised) that Sirius didn't come across as too awful in the last one.**

**Did I say I found the Carrow Twins on Harry Potter Wiki? I imagine them being like the twins in film The Shining'.  
**

~o0o~

"...He's dead." James pronounced, leaving Amycus' corpse to the buzzing flies and pulling the kitchen door closed.

The Carrow's house seemed suddenly quiet; filled with the silence that only a death brings.

"_Great_!" Sirius said, trying his weight on his bad ankle again. "He tortured children for fun."

James nodded, watching him.

"This isn't good, Sirius," he said, honestly. "Stuff like this, it really brings out the worst in you."

"Bizarre." Sirius glanced up, with a cool smile. "And I'd heard that civil war brought out the best in everybody."

"Fighting brought out the best in me." James said, with a slightly forced grin. "Everything brings out the best in me."

Sirius gave him a meaningless smile and went over to the hearth, to search for Floo Powder.

~o0o~

Thrusting nothing but his wand arm and head through the green flames, Sirius found himself peering up into an Lucius and Cissy's empty Drawing Room. Beckoning James he scrambled through into the room, morphing into Padfoot as James pulled on the invisability cloak.

The black dog trod carefully, back and forth, back and forth, across the room, sniffing at the high backed chairs; coal black nose carefully going over the door handles and the hearth rug.

A moment later Sirius reappeared, straightening up and flexing his ankle with a scowl. "Lucy's here." He said. "And Bella; unsurprisingly. But if Cissy and Draco are here, they haven't been in this room for a while. Cissy might have tried to get Draco away... And there's only fresh scent from Bella. She came through the floo, alone, this morning." He wrinkled his nose. "And Voldemort; there were traces of Rudy's scent about hers, but brought in by her, I'm sure. He hasn't come here." He paused, listening, as tiny elfin footsteps hurried down the corridor, and pattered away in the other direction.

"...And does your nose also tell you what your pretty cousin and her ghastly husband had for dinner last night?" James inquired.

Sirius grinned. "Some sort of gamy soup," he said, "followed by broiled ham with too much garlic and…"

"Yeah, you make me slightly nauseous." James said, honestly. "I'm so glad my animagus isn't a dog."

"Also, one of Lucy's Deer Hounds is most definitely 'in heat'." Sirius supplied, his smile broadening to something vastly more genuine, as James gagged in speechless horror. "…Get under the cloak, Potter." He added, happily. "I'll take you to the dungeons. We have everything we need, _thanks to me_." And he vanished back into the body of the black dog, dropping his nose to snuffle his way across the room.

On high alert, ears pricked, Padfoot lead the invisible James quickly through the quiet house, rising into his human form and drawing his wand as they reached an apparent dead end.

"_Antares_." James said, calmly.

The wall shimmered and turned in on itself. The stones scraping annoyingly loudly, as they reformed into a stone staircase that curled downwards, into inky blackness.

Sirius cast '_Lumos_', revealing a sunken, windowless room. James pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth in a futile attempt to block out the stench of excrement and hot filthy air that filled their lungs as the descended into the bowels of the house.

~o0o~

In Grimauld Place's Drawing Room Lily paced, anxiously, rocking Teddy in her arms. The baby was quiet. The room filled with the warm apricot and pink light of dusk. The perpetual rumble of London's traffic rose into the gaps, as Harry told his mum, yet again, of the meeting with Kingsley. Remus stood by the broad window, watching as James, Sirius and a distinctly battered Dora, appeared, with a pop, on the opposite curb.

A second whip crack brought the even more unexpected arrival of Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood, stumbling into James as they hit the ground slightly too hard, beside him.

Harry and Remus ran to the front door, Lily rushing behind with the baby in her arms.

"I'm fine! It's all fine!" Dora cried, limping over the threshold under her own steam. "It's all superficial… _Hello Teddy,_" she whispered, carefully wrapping her warm thrilled baby up in her arms, eyes closing as she pressed her face into his sweet soft hair.

Remus helped her carefully down the hallway, while the others hurried inside, talking over each other, excitedly.

"Why are you here, Ron?" Harry demanded. "Where did you come from?"

"From Draco's family dungeon," Ron assured him, rather too excitedly. "Where I've been stuck, for getting on for a week. How could you not know that 'I' wasn't 'me', you idiot?"

"What do you mean?" Harry gawked at him.

"It is most peculiar..." Luna agreed, looking thoughtfully around the narrow entrance hall. "…I suppose they must have seen me and Ron as the greatest threat."

"The greatest threat to what?" Harry asked, doubtfully. Luna, he saw was equally filthy, but making less of a fuss about it. Ron was leaving a pile of dirty clothes, waiting for them.

"The greatest threat to everything, obviously," He said, adding with a laughed. "…Greatest threat to the Nargles, Harry!"

Luna, who had been peering at a picture of a boat, turned to give him a withering look.

"I suppose they wanted me, so they could control my father, and thereby The Quibbler." She pointed out. "And I imagine they were intending to use Ron to get to you, Harry. That would make perfect sense."

"They got me in Diagon Alley, in broad daylight." Ron told him, rather excitedly.

"Does your mum know what's happened, Ron?" Harry asked at once. "Does Molly…"

"Yes, of course Molly does. I have obviously already told her." James interrupted him. "I sent a patronus as soon as we were clear of Malfoy's manor, Harry. And Harry, you are to stay in this house, till we've dealt with Voldemort. Do you understand me?"

"Of course he does!" Lily said, hurrying to wrap her arms around James and kiss him, thoroughly. "The Master of Death has spoken!"

"Don't mock me," James warned, throwing an arm lazily around Lily's narrow shoulders and hauling her into the house. "…Shall the Master of Death sort your ankle out now, Messr Padfoot?!" He added, seeing Sirius was again on one foot and shoving him off-balance, as he passed.

"...What did you do to your foot, Sirius?" Harry asked; aware that everyone was drifting rapidly into the house without Sirius, who was suddenly looked rather distinctly alone and abandoned.

"...We're getting you a drink, Harry!" Ron shouted back to him, padding down to the kitchen with Luna. "Butterbeer alright, mate!?"

"...I got hit by a random spell." Sirius said, putting his foot firmly back on the floor and smiling at Harry. "Did anything interesting happen at The Ministry?"

"Yes!" Harry assured him. "Yes. Something's happened to Kingsley. We don't know what, yet; maybe Polyjuice, or an Imperio curse, or something else, but something's been done to him. Remus spotted it straight away. He asked Kingsley what the last thing Dumbledore said to both of them was, and Kingsley didn't know. _He didn't know_. But I don't think he realised that he'd given himself away, either." Sirius didn't say anything, an unreadable expression passing over his face. "...And we took Rita Skeeter everywhere with us, so they couldn't do anything to us without everyone knowing. Do you remember her, Sirius, that horrible reporter?" Sirius nodded, but his smile was unconvincing. "Come down to the kitchen and have a drink with us, Sirius." Harry urged him; realising as he said it that he was inviting Sirius into his own house.

Sirius gave him the same false smile, apparently still thinking about Kingsley, who Harry had just remembered had actually been quite a good friend of Sirius'. He'd felt he should say Kingsley would be alright, turn up alive and salvageable like Mad-eye had, but Harry knew that was far from certain. He didn't even know how Remus had known an imposter was posing as Kingsley.

"...He probably saved my life." He added. Sirius returned his focus to him. "Remus." Harry clarified. "Kingsley was trying to get me on my own. And Remus made me realise. And it was his idea to keep Rita and her staff with us… I think he's a really clever and admirable person; Remus."

"Yes, he is." Sirius agreed. Although they couldn't hear him, Harry imagined Remus was now sitting in the kitchen beneath them, with his arm around his wife, while she told everyone what had happened to her.

"I really think he's great." Harry clarified. "But…" He wet his rather dry lips, looking at his Godfather thoughtfully.

Harry was neither a coward nor deceitful, and apologising to Sirius was the next best thing to apologising to Remus himself.

"When Dora was very upset," He said, calmly. "I kissed her. We'd both had a drink. Today, when Remus asked Kingsley about Dumbledore saying they should trust me, I thought he knew and that he intended to humiliate me, publicly, which would have been awful but not, as it turns out, as awful as him looking out for me and being nice to me, oblivious to what I did. I wish I could tell him, so I could apologise."

"Apologise if you want to," Sirius suggested. "He knows what you and Dora did, Harry. I turned into Padfoot as soon as we realised Dora was missing. We went through that house for every scent we could find. There was plenty of you, Dora and the disturbing whiff of alcohol-induced lust in the kitchen, Harry. It was more than obvious what had been going on."

When Harry remained silent, Sirius gave him a rather cold smile.

"And you told Remus that?" Harry asked, calmly.

"Of course I did." Sirius said. "I don't think much of secrets, Harry."


	124. Chapter 124

Harry took a seat on the far side of the table from Remus and Dora. It was hard to tell whether James or Ron were in higher spirits, but they were both roaring with laughing. Dora was laughing as well, and cuddling her baby as James hopped around the kitchen on one leg. Lily was trying to encourage Luna to help her make a vast amount of bacon and eggs for everyone, while Luna appeared to be painting an abstract food-based mural on the kitchen wall, hopefully with Sirius' consent.

Complaining loudly that Sirius was 'treating Grimmauld Place like he owned it' James went upstairs to demand Sirius get out of the sole bathroom so that Dora could wash. He sent Luna to use his on-suite off the Master bedroom, which he'd copied in it's entirety from the house next door.

Moments later, the Weasleys arrived, on mass, to collect Ron and to turn the kitchen into a whirlwind of chaos. Scooping him up, they vanishing back into the Floo Network leaving only James, sitting with Harry and Remus in uneasy silence.

"…Where's Padfoot gone now!?" James demanded, noticing the atmosphere. "I'm going to find him… Go and find Padfoot, Remus." He added, a moment later.

Remus had the sleepy baby on his lap, and made no immediate move to rise.

"Would you mind finding him, Dad?" Harry asked, turning to James. "There was something that I wanted to say to Remus."

"This is what it feels like to be a house elf!" James snorted crossly, but he did spring up, and bounded off up the stairs.

.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Remus asked; the obviously genuine concern making Harry feel so much worse.

"Yes but I'm really sorry." Harry stammered, forcing himself to look Remus in the eye. "I know, Sirius told you what happened… I'm sorry." His stomach felt twisted and his cheeks were burning. "I really am... You can hit me if you want to." He looked down at the baby, in Remus arms. Teddy yawned gummily, smiling as he closed his eyes and snuggled obliviously against his father.

Harry might feel better if Remus hit him.

If Remus wasn't holding a baby.

"Thank you, Harry," Remus said, calmly, "but I think we have enough external troubles without stooping to hitting."

"I am terribly sorry." Harry assured him, and he hurried out of the room, as fast as he could.

.

It was dark when Lily finally called them back to the kitchen. She had pulled together a hearty meal and was burning rubbish in the fireplace. The kitchen door was open, bringing in a cool breeze from the yard, and the distant sound of London traffic mingled with the clinking of china and their own voices.

The chaos that the Time-turner had wrought seemed far away and the unplottable nature of Grimmauld Place seemed almost palpable; a refuge, set adrift from the entire world.

The table was packed with people Harry loved.

Sirius had returned, wet haired and looking much less angry. He was currently ribbing James for presuming to take the seat at the head of the table, while looking perfectly happy to be on Remus' far side, with Teddy on his chest, drooling sleepily on his collar.

Dora, who had been held without proper food, was eating hungrily, and Luna kept calling Remus 'Professor Lupin' which reliably caused James to choke with laughter.

Remus himself had quite firmly pulled Harry into their conversation twice, without a trace of bitterness over his awful behaviour. Harry was starting to feel much better.

~o0o~

"We need a house-elf!" James cried, watching his wife clearing the dishes from the table. "What happened to the house-elf, Pads?"

"I gave him to Reggie, remember." Sirius said, carefully easing a hand free of Teddy, to pull out his wand and levitate some empty plates to the sink.

"Let me hold Teddy, so you can eat your dinner, Sirius." Lily said, sliding a hand under the baby.

"He's fine. I can drink one handed." Sirius pointed out, discarding the wand to take a mouthful of wine and adjust the baby back into the crook of his neck.

"Eat your dinner." Lily told him, bossily. "You're skinny, and I don't mind holding him. I've already finished mine."

"Then why don't you go and wash the dishes?" Sirius suggested, with a sweet smile.

"_Padfoot!_ Give my wife that baby, you big girls blouse!" James warned him.

"I think the baby is happy on Sirius' chest." Luna pointed out. "It's sleeping and it has a lovely aurora around it; like a rainbow."

"Yeah, think of his lovely aurora, Prongs." Sirius agreed, flashing James a grin.

"I'll be finished in a minute." Dora promised, swallowing fast. "He's not asleep, is he, Sirius?"

"He better hadn't be." Lily warned him, still hovering to take the baby. "He'll keep Dora up all night if you've let him go to sleep without being fed. Dora, would you like me to transfigure something into a highchair?"

"He's fine." Remus put a hand on the baby's back. "And one of us will be awake to feed him, if he's hungry, in the night."

"But a highchair would be wonderful." Dora said to Lily. "I was always hopeless at transfiguration; ironically. Don't suppose you could conjure up a crib as well, could you?"

"I'm sure I can manage something." Lily said, fetching her own wand and waiting for Dora to shovel the last mouthful off her plate, before following her up the stairs.

.

"…_Sirius!_" James snapped, as soon as they were out of the room. "Give Teddy to my wife when she comes back! She's probably missing Harry being little; no offense, Harry."

"I'm sure babies aren't interchangeable." Remus said. "Lily was probably offering as a favour."

"And I don't need the favour." Sirius added to James, looping an arm around Teddy's back. "I'm fine."

"Don't be such a _woman_, Padfoot!" James warned him. "He's not your baby. Find yourself a nice husband, oh, _sorry_, I did mean a _wife _but you had me confused for a minute, what with acting like such an utter _girl._"

"I think you're lovely with him." Luna said. "He looks very happy and loved."

"You are top notch at impressing teenage girls, Pads." James assured him, with a broad grin. "Seriously though, you do need a wife. Me and Lily are bound to have more babies, what with the world needing my offspring. So if you get a move on, our children could go to Hogwarts together; but do 'man up' and give Teddy to Lily when she comes back. Tell him, Moony."

Remus didn't.

"…Also, Moony," James added, helping himself to another serving of Lily's pie, "my dear wife has suggested that she look after Teddy in October, as you and Dora will both be working."

"She'll have to fight Molly and Sirius for him." Dora laughed easily. "And no offense now, James, but did _Lily_ suggested that herself, or was it your idea?"

"It was Lily's idea!" James exclaimed, with a laugh. "She loves babies! And with Harry so grown up and Remus no longer stuck as house... husband? It'll be ideal. What do you say, Dora?"


	125. Chapter 125

"I say it's an excellent idea." Dora said, without hesitation.

"Lily will be in hiding." Remus pointed out.

"So?" James asked. "Bellatrix is hunting Teddy, specifically. He'll be safer here than anywhere."

"And it would be terribly quick and easily for me to get here from work." Dora added. "It's hard getting to The Burrow after a fourteen hour shift."

"You could move in here as well, Dora," James offered, at once. "While Remus is at Hogwarts. Then you and Lily won't be lonely, which she was in Godrick's Hollow. I'll have Sirius to talk to in the evenings, and you and Lily will have each other and Teddy to do mum-things with. Remus can come down from Hogwarts in the holidays and at the weekends… And it's also an ideal location for Harry, while he's training to be an Auror..." James continued. "And we've got more than enough bedrooms for everyone, haven't we Sirius?"

"You're all going to live here together?" Luna asked, managing to make it sound wonderful. "You're very lucky, I wish I could live here with you."

"You can!" James cried at once. "My son is currently looking for a new girlfriend, so that could be excellent!"

"No, I'm not." Harry clarified.

"He definitely is!" James said, with a snort of laughter. "He just needs a shove in the right direction, like his mother did! Sirius is also in need of female company, if you happen to have any attractive older sisters or cousins?"

"No, I'm not." Sirius said. "And Remus will want his son with him at Hogwarts, James. I am sure a wife that cared enough to marry him and have a child with him, cares enough to move to Hogsmeade, so he doesn't only see his son on the odd weekend."

"Oh, _bloody hell, Sirius!"_ James groaned.

"_Wow!_" Dora leant over Remus, to glare at him. "That's some impressive misogyny you've got going on there, Black."

Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but a sharp look from Remus cut him dead, and he sunk back into the seat, moving his arm around the baby on his chest.

"…Sirius is a devout misogynist." James pointed out, brightly. "As would you be, if you were raised by Walburga Black.

"There are actually many lovely women in my family." Sirius pointed out. "I've always enjoyed the company of my cousins; when they're not trying to murder me."

"And you get on very well with _all_ the Carrow ladies." James said, with a snort of laughter.

"I get on very well with _all_ the ladies." Sirius smirked.

"_I_ would argue with that statement." Dora assured him.

"You'd argue with _anything_." Sirius muttered.

"I'd argue with the idea that I should give up being an Auror, to follow my husband around the country, like a lapdog, Sirius." Dora assured him.

Remus removed Teddy from Sirius's chest, holding him in his own arms, but he didn't speak.

Sirius glanced at him and again fell silent, taking another mouthful of wine.

"…Well, Sirius?" Dora snapped. "Are you seriously suggesting that I should give up my life's ambition and my job, because my husband has finally found employment?"

Sirius looked over at her, smirking in the face of her obvious anger.

"I don't think this is the moment to discuss it." Remus said, addressing neither of them directly, although Harry, who was watching this increasingly uncomfortable exchange, knew _exactly _who he was talking to; because Remus was always ordering Sirius about, shouting at him to sit down or to calm down, or yanking him out of arguments by the clothes on his back. This horrible formal tone was definitely reserved for his wife. A wife, who was as happy to clear the air, publically, as much as Remus hated to.

"…By which you mean you're agreeing with him?" Dora demanded, turning on her husband, who still didn't look at her. "Remus! You expect me to give up being an Auror, so you can teach children how to treat Doxies bites, do you?"

"I think it's fantastic that Dora has trained as an Auror." Lily pointed out. "There should be more female Auror's. And I'd be very happy to look after Teddy. I won't have anything else to do, now."

"There's no need." James assured her, crossly. "Moony plans to have him swimming about in the Grindylow tank while he conducts his lessons. I did consider taking Harry to work with me, when he was a baby, Remus, but then I remembered what a moronic idea that was…"

"But it would be so wonderful to have a baby in Defence against the Dark Arts lessons!" Luna cried, excitedly. "It would remind the students what they're fighting for!"

"That makes perfect sense to me!" James laughed. "Moony, mate, let the ladies decide on the childcare. You're being ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous." Remus said.

"We're not talking about childcare, we're talking about me!" Dora said, catching her husband's robes in an effort to _make_ him look at her. "About me, giving up _everything_ I've aspired to do." Dora said, slightly shakily.

"You've just been through a very traumatic experience..." Remus said quietly, still avoiding his wife's confrontational glare. "We can discuss it later."

"Can do, could do, but won't!" Dora retorted sharply.

"Maybe you'd rather do this in private, Remus?" James suggested. "Luna?"

"Oh, I don't mind, at all." Luna assured him. "I'm really enjoying it. It's very quiet at home with just myself and my father. I think Sirius should have the baby. If I was the baby I would definitely choose Sirius."

"That's… really helpful and only a little bit weird." James said, as earnestly as he could manage. "And that's a whole new sort of creepy you're cultivating there, Padfoot. Why don't we all go upstairs and play some music, loudly, to drown out the shouting couple?"

"We're not shouting!" Dora shouted; on her feet finally.

Remus remained, resolutely sitting down, his eyes fixed on his baby son, still asleep in his arms. "We're not shouting." Dora repeated, sounding only a touch calmer. "…But seriously, Remus, I feel like the only way I can get a straight answers from you, is to demand them in public. Do you honestly expect me to give up my job, my everything, just to follow you around the country?"

"No." Remus forced himself to look up at her. "No. Of course I don't." He said.

Dora sighed, eyes falling miserably on the table of silent faces.

"…It's been a really exhausting day." She apologised, sweeping a hand through her reddened hair. "You know how much my job means to me…"

"_More than your family_." Sirius observed softly, to no one in particular.

Dora stared at him. The red hair on her head coiling up visibly, like serpents preparing to strike. Sirius flashed her his very best smile. "Just saying." He offered, sweetly.

Dora glared at him.

James helpfully coughed the word '_apologise'_ into the silence.

Sirius didn't.

Dora glared at him for a moment longer, as if daring him to open his mouth, before she turned back to her husband.

"I've had a horrible few days." She said, with a blatantly forced softness. "Let's go to bed, Remus."

"…I need to settle Teddy." Remus said quietly, without looking at her. Sirius made a smug noise, low in his throat; the smirk audible and wickedly triumphant on his face.

"_You don't even try, Remus_!" Dora shouted at him.

Teddy's eyes immediately snapped open, his small body jolted awake by the volume, or the anguish, in his mother's voice.

"…_You know I would be bored out of my mind!" Dora cried. "Remus, look at me! Sitting in some musty room with nothing to do all day…"_

"And we all know what _you_ get up to, when you get _bored_." Sirius interupted, pointedly.

Dora stared at him.

Comprehension hit her suddenly, shock replacing anger as her eyes flew to Harry and then back to Remus.

Without another word she pushed her chair aside and walked as quickly as she could, from the room.

.

"…You are an utter _arse_, Sirius!" James marvelled. "I am going to find you a wife, purely so that Remus and I can put you on the receiving end this stupid ragging."

"She wanted to make a big public show of herself." Sirius pointed out, glancing warily at Remus.

"I get easily bored as well." Luna volunteered.

"All the best people do." James assured her. "Remus, mate, _get up_. Shove that baby in its cot and grovel; grovel shamelessly, and totally... And offer 'back massages'; back massages can straighten anything out."

"Just apologise." Lily advised him. "Apologise and assure her that you don't want her to leave her job."

"But he does!" James pointed out. He paused, as Remus finally pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. "…And not that I blame you, Moony." He added, consolingly. "But the elves will do everything for you at Hogwarts, _and_ you'll have a nice baby and a bored lonely wife excited to see you every weekend."

"Thank you, James." Remus said, reasonably meaninglessly.

He took Teddy carefully out of the room, while James mouthed crossly at Sirius behind his back.


	126. Chapter 126

**AN:Sorry about the delete and re-post of this chapter. I was tired when I posted it and it really showed. Thank you Mila for reviewing so nicely, without pointing out all the typo's and errors I'd left in :) You are a decent and lovely person.**

**~o0o~**

Sirius was despondent.

He was not happy.

He did not like Remus and James being angry with him.

And he felt like he'd failed to entirely wash the cloy of the Carrows off his skin.

And he did not want to be alone.

He actually felt very lonely.

He did not want Remus to take Teddy away; to go and live with Dora in Hogwarts.

But he was a good enough friend to support Remus, if that was what he wanted to do.

But he still felt very sad.

He was sad enough to conclude that his best option was to turn into Padfoot.

As soon as he had the privacy to do so, he vanished into the sanctuary of the black dog and paced out a circle on the carpet in the corner of his childhood bedroom.

Heavy head sunk onto paws, he sighed pitifully.

He was so consumed with the business of feeling sorry for himself that he failed to notice footsteps until Remus opened the door and looked at the mound of black fur in surprise.

"Teddy wouldn't settle," he said, stepping briskly into the room. "You know what he's like if he's been woken in the middle of a nap."

Rather purposefully he crossed the room and settled down on the floor, against the dog's side. Resting his head on Padfoot's fluffy flank he rather staring up at the ceiling.

On his chest, the baby snored, moving sleepily to adjust to the more horizontal position.

"You know what he's like." He reiterated, running a finger over the silky hair at the nape of his son's neck.

Sirius made a noise that was probably a canine approximation of agreement.

Without rising again, Remus closed the door with a _colloportus_, adjusted his position until only his head was pillowed on the dog's fluffy side, and closed his eyes.

"Good night, Sirius." He said, quietly.

~o0o~

It was around sunrise when he woke. He was cover-less, uncomfortable, and lying on the floor.

He had been gazing at the dusty ceiling and he stared up at it for a moment, now.

His stomach lurched twisting into his chest as he scrambled to his knees.

He'd slept against his warm baby son.

Now there was nothing.

Nothing but cold, dead stillness.

Sirius snorted, watching him from up on the bed. "He's up here, you fool!" He laughed.

Remus forced an almost instinctive smile; a smile was generally required when Sirius amused himself at your expense, unless you wanted a repeat performance.

"I shouldn't have gone to sleep with him." He said, trying to ignore his thundering heart. "Is he alright? Are you?"

"He's good. And I'm always alright." Sirius pointed out, swinging off the bed and flinging himself back down on the carpet.

Remus considered this, and the silence beyond the closed door, and his son, happily sleeping on the bed. He humored Sirius with a genuine, if slightly wary, smile.

"You're in a good mood." He suggested.

"I'm in a _terrible_ mood." Sirius assured him, shoving Remus rather randomly in the chest. "But I am very glad you're here, Moony." He sunk back against his side. "…I am very glad." He reiterated. "I'll get us some tea in a minute. And toast."

"It's a bit early." Remus suggested.

Sirius' lip curled, again.

"You're not sneaking back to Dora, before she wakes up, Moony." He assured him. "I'll actually stop you."

Remus sighed, but he said nothing.

The sort of silence Sirius hated.

"…Why don't you talk about it, Moons?" He shoved at him again. "Talk to _me_. She's a rubbish wife. You should be angry, Moony. You've so much right to be. Be angry. ...You aren't angry, at all, are you?"

.

"I…" Remus sighed, adjusting his frayed robes. "I _am_ angry." He said, sounding anything but.

"Well,_ good!_" Sirius assured him. "And not with me, I hope. Because she clearly said she wanted to talk about it at the table. And she should…

"Remus, _she shouldn't keep Teddy away from you."_ He pointed out, as calmly as he could, because he did know that Remus wanted calm talking, as much as he wanted the opposite.

.

"I'm angry with myself, Sirius." Remus assured him, still studying a particularly bad piece of darning, on his right sleeve. "I don't want her to give up her job. I never wanted her to. I never wanted…"

He looked over at the bed, again.

He could see a very rosy cheek; a thumb slid from parted lips; downy brown hair.

"I never wanted her to get pregnant." He stated, certain that Sirius, at least, would never assume this had any bearing on his loved for Teddy. "I never wanted to marry her. I never wanted to drag her down into my miserable world. I wanted her to be free and happy. She's so young and viberant and…" He trailed off.

"...emabrassing?" Sirius suggested, 'thoughtfully' enough to make Remus laughed.

"Yes." He admitted. "Definitely that."

Sirius grinned at him, watching the amusement play around on Remus' face, and fade only slowly until it stayed; the last trace of a smile.

"And she is vastly too good for you, Moony." He pressed on.

"Yes, she is." Remus agreed, another smile completely transforming his face.

Sirius rested against the wall, watching him.

"…And she's too young and pretty."

"Yes." Remus agreed.

"And vastly too fierce."

"I admire fierce." Remus said. "You and James are fierce."

"Yes, but _still, Moony_." Sirius pointed out, wrinkling his nose. "_Still._"

Remus looked at him for a moment, thinking hard.

"…No." He addressed the previous question, finally. "I didn't feel angry when you told me that she'd kissed Harry. I actually felt relieved, Sirius. …I felt shocked." He added, in an effort to be entirely honest about this. "It wasn't what I expected."

"And betrayed." Sirius added, without the faintest hint of humour.

Remus considered it, but he didn't elucidate on that.

"…Yesterday," he said, instead, "you said Dora cared more about her job than about Teddy."

"And you." Sirius agreed.

"Well, I really want this job." Remus admitted. "You... Sirius, _you_ know what this means to me; you know how it's been for me. I really want this, but… I'm just not willing to leave Teddy."

"You don't have to choose!" Sirius assured him. "And she's a bitch, Remus! A hateful bitch to try and make you! I wish I'd left her in that dungeon! She works fourteen hour shifts! She's the worst sort of wife!"

"_No, she's not._" Remus snapped, catching hold of Sirius, rather too fiercely.

Sirius knocked him off, biting his jaw closed.

"...She's an unbelieveably good wife." Remus added, sincerely. "And a wonderful mother. We would have had _nothing,_ Sirius, if she hadn't worked. I would have done _anything_, and n_o one_ would employ me. I couldn't even support my own son, or my wife… Just one more thing, I have failed at."

"It's not your fault." Sirius said, stiffly. "You know…"

"I do know." Remus cut him off at once. "I do know. But it doesn't make it any easier. I want to take Teddy to Hogwarts, Sirius. I will apparate back with him, myself, at the end of her every shift, if needs be. I will spend every penny of my wages on floo powder to get him too her…"

"My bitch of a mother died while I was in prison, Remus. We have bank vaults of gold." Sirius reminded him. "And Dora doesn't deserve that much consideration."

"Yes, she does." Remus assured him. "She really does. She's a good mother. It's just her shifts are very long, and my hours wouldn't be. I could spend so much time with him. He's always been with me, Sirius."

"I do know." Sirius stated, carefully. "He was only three weeks old when you brought me here. How often have we not had him with us?"

"...Yes." Remus said. "I thought... As long as you're not in the public eye, Sirius, it makes no odds where you're hidden. And obviously you'd be with Teddy if he stays here with you, James and Lily... I imagine you do want to be with James but... You could come to."

"Come where?" Sirius asked.

"To Hogwarts." Remus said. "Which is as safe as anywhere else. Safer than most, and Minerva would probably be thrilled to have you around."

Sirius didn't bother to smile at the joke.

"What are you saying, Remus?" He asked.

Remus turned to face him, properly. "I do imagine you want to live with James and Lily." He said, carefully. "And if Teddy is here, it will be with you, not Lily. As you just pointed out, he's been with you, since he was three weeks old, so he's in safe… probably not in safe, but in loving hands."

Sirius did not laugh. He waited.

"But, I would like it... You would be with Teddy either way. But I would prefer it, Sirius, if you would come with me..."

~o0o~

Tonks' eyes snapped open.

There was shouting, and it was not her own.

A floor above her, the furious yells woke James at precisely the same time.

Kicking off his covers, he sprang over his wife and landed on the floor with a resounding thud.

Lily could see him flinging on clothes as she peeled her eyes open.

"Is that… Sirius?" She asked uncertainly, trying to blink the unfamiliar room, and the rant above them, into better focus.

The sound of a fist slamming against wood, echoed through the house.

.

"…_Sirius you worthless disgrace!"_

.

James, had no idea what problem might have caused this rage, but it sounded funny enough to make him laugh.

His wife, who'd watched so many people broken by the horror and misery of the Wizarding Wars, could not repress a smile of genuine gratitude for her husband's relentless, uncrushable, spirit.

.

"…_Open the door! I'm serious! You… you manipulative __worthless bastard!"_

.

"It's as if I am saying the thoughts, without having to move my lips." Dora observed, turning around and realising that the room was quite empty.

Wearily she got up, pulled on the clean t-shirt and jeans Lily had transfigured for her the evening before, and left the room, to find out what was going on.

.

"_I hate you! Call yourself my brother!_ You're the most disloyal… _Sirius! I'm serious! Open this door! I'm not having this conversation through it!_"

.

There was further enthusiastic slamming of fists and wood.

Sprinting up the stairs, James was first to reach the attic landing.

"Everything alright there, Reggie?" He asked, brightly.

"_Explain yourself!_" Regulus cried, red faced and furious. He slammed his fist, yet again, against the solid wood. "…_Sirius!_"

With an angry huff, he flung his back against the door and glared at James, who was grinning, broadly.

"How about a cup of coffee?" James suggested.

Lily and Dora hurried up the stairs, together. "Don't join in, Potter." Dora warned him. "See how funny you find it, when he starts on your marriage."

"You honestly think he hasn't?" James marveled. "My marriage is unshakable... _Sirius!_" He banged on the door as well. "You've sweet little brother wants to talk to you. You've got thirty seconds to open the door; then I'm blasting it open with the Elder Wand!"

~o0o~

"…And now James is there, as well." Remus observed, turning back to Sirius, who was holding Teddy in his arms.

"Transfigure me into a chair, or something." He suggested, with an attempt at humour that he didn't really feel. "I'm not having it out with Regulus, about his ridiculous 'engagement'. The Carrow's are Death Eaters, and the levels of creepy in that house, makes anything I did acceptable."

"I taught Hestia and Flora." Remus reminded him, listening to James counting. "I felt sorry for them, Sirius."

"You would. I didn't." Sirius said, bracing himself as James reached two, and Remus swung the door open.

.

"Give me Teddy. _Now!_" Dora said, stalking into the room and snatching the baby out of Sirius' arms.

Blanking Remus entirely, she vanished back down the stairs.

"Ha! You are even worse at relationships than me, Moony!" James marveled, happily. "Come downstairs now. I need to talk about Voldemort, and Sirius might be a while. What do you think is wrong with Kingsley? And is Harry going to be safe training as an Auror?"


	127. Chapter 127

The sun was shining and a light breeze rippled the lakes sparkling water. Near the far bank a mighty tentacle broke the surface and vanished with a distant spalsh.

Wading into the muddy shallows, Padfoot dipped his head and lapped at the slightly foamy water, while Remus attempted to grimace.

He failed to make it look like anything but a smile.

Adjusting the baby, perched in his arms, he lifted his battered trunk, long ago marked as the property of _Professor_ R J Lupin, and quickened his pace. Minerva had come into view on the steps of the Grand Entrance.

.

"A good journey I hope, Remus." The Headmistress hurried to greet him, her smile thinning to a narrow line as the black bear of a dog butted her hand, smearing a tongue-load of drool into her palm. "That's hardly appropriate." She stated pointedly, lifting her hands out of reach and wiping them on her gown, before she clasped Remus' hand warmly in her own.

"It is so very good to see you." She assured him, a wealth of earnest feeling behind her polite smile. "Back where you belong, Professor Lupin."

"A dusty old Defense teacher." He released her hand before Padfoot seized the advantage, to give it another licking. "And the building work looks like it's nearly finished."

"Far from it. The west wing is still in ruins, I'm afraid. But our castle has stood for a thousand years. It will take more than _them_ to knock it down. And our curse is lifted," she added, more brightly, "you are starting a second year in the Defense against the Dark Art, position."

"Dadadaa." Teddy interrupted with a happy babble.

Minerva gave the baby a warm smile and beckoned them into the Entrance Hall. "I fear you'll find your quarters desperately inadequate." She informed Remus, escorting him personally through to the teachers quarters. While curious students, freshly returned from the half-term break, peered with undisguised interest at their Head Misteress guiding the professor, the baby and the black hound.

.

The DADA quarters looked unchanged for having been home to four DADA teacher's since Remus had called them his own.

The house-elves had been busy, dusting and polishing, and there was fresh linen on the bed, a bowl of crisp apples sitting on the window ledge and an open window, bringing in children's laughter from the banks of the lake.

.

Teddy gave a delighted screech and clapped his hands enthusiastically as Sirius erupted out of the black dog. Shouting and grimacing, Sirius stripped the bed to it's mattress, tossing the linen through the open door.

Minerva's hands rose uncontrollably.

"That is not your bed!" She cried crossly. "…And it was most definitely freshly made this morning." She added, flushing in annoyance at Sirius, covering his nose with the back of his hand, gagged and grimaced, while he yelled about Umbridge, Snape and the Carrows.

Teddy applauded this as well, with great enthusiasm and near-hysterical laugher, bouncing up and down in Remus' arms and drowning out the Headmistress' attempt to speak, until his father covered his mouth.

"…When you've quite finished." Minerva assured Sirius, icily. "I will arrange quarters for you, before this evening. Unless a kennel would be more fitting. It's very good to have you back, Remus..." Her glare grazed Sirius as she stepped sedately over the crumpled pile of clean linen, and headed back down the corridor.

.

"...You won't hear a peep out of me." Sirius reiterated the promise he'd given less than an hour earlier. He flung himself down in the only chair, catching his breath. "This day isn't half hot, if you're stuck in a fur coat." He added, studiously ignoring Remus' pained expression. "But the Carrows, Moony! ...Umbridge! And Snivels! I mean, _really._ Yuck!"

He jumped up again, pressing his nose nervously against the chair's stiff horsehair back.

"Why are you _smelling_ it?" Remus asked him, trying to sound critical, when he felt inanely happy and really wanted to laugh. "Why would that seem like even a vaguely good idea? Why not go the whole hog and get your nose down on the seat…"  
"_Shut up, Moony!"_ Sirius choked, leaving the chair well alone and going instead to hang out of the window, peering downwards.

A sharp breeze blew his hair into his mouth and he laughed, again. "A whole room that stinks of Carrows, and Snivels, and Umbridge." He said, gulping lungfuls of the air outside the window and laughing at the little black robed students meandering around the lake.

"You can't even smell them, when you're human; can you?" Remus pointed out, behind him.

"Nope." Sirius agreed. "And Thank God for that, Moony. I'll just have to stay human, won't I? I blame the mattress. That mattress looks a hundred years old. It makes me want to cry."

"You make me want to cry." Remus said, trying to sound less happy.

"Well, I'm only here for Teddy." Sirius assured him. "Speaking of which; we have plans. Don't you have lesson's to prepare for or some such rubbish?"

"No." Remus said. "We've been here for less than five minutes. You've completely put me off sitting in the only chair and I haven't even had a cup of tea or unpacked my lesson plans, yet."

"Yes, you should be unpacking, Moony." Sirius agreed, sweeping his hair out of his eyes, as the wind yet again caught it. Giving up on controlling the unruly black mop he pulled his head back into the room. "You unpack. We'll keep busy... And out of trouble, obviously."

"Obviously." Remus agreed, cursing his son for positively overbalancing in delight, to be returned to Sirius' offered arms. "…I'll get on with re-making my bed then." He added.

"Not before you've burnt that mattress." Sirius assured him, swinging the baby across the room and sitting him on the window ledge, so he could see the lake and the students. "...Going to want some sort of safety barrier on this." He added, reassuringly. "Maybe the charms they put on the Quidditch pitch. Baby Sirius here, looks like he'd love to 'go puppy' and jump out."

"Thankfully he hasn't done that for a while." Remus muttered, studying the mattress unhappily. "...To be honest, Pads, I don't think setting fire to the mattress was the sort of 'settling in' Minerva had in mind.

"We'll say some bad Slytherin students did it." Sirius assured him, taking Teddy away from the window. "Or whatever you think will go down well with McGonagall... Your choice, Moony." He assured him. "It's your bed." With a sparkling grin, he scooped Teddy up and headed out of the room.

~o0o~

In London, Harry was starting on his first day as a trainee Auror. As it was paid training it was, he though as undramatically as such a thing could be thought, _the first day __of his working adult life._

He headed across the city in the company of Dora and Regulus Black.

Owing to Kingsley's as yet unexplained behaviour, and Dora, Ron and Luna's abductions, it was a current necessity to travel in groups, and both Dora and Reg were currently staying with Harry's parents, at unplottable Grimmauld Place.

Regulus was still grumbling about Sirius ruining his engagement to Flora Carrow, something Harry didn't really believe Regulus cared about in the slightest. If he had the slightest sense of self-preservation he should be relieved. Although Harry was not certain how much sense of self-preservation someone who joined the Death Eaters, changed their mind, swapped sides, and then as good as killed themselves at seventeen, could be considered to have.

Dora was unusually silent, although she'd made the effort to appear positively jolly at breakfast, when she had sent her husband and son off to Hogwarts, assuring Harry how awesome being an Auror was, and that it was the best job in the word.

.

"…I can't imagine why you'd want to be an Auror." Regulus said, as they joined the queue to flush themselves into The Ministry. "It's hard thankless work, probably having to take orders from some jumped up nobody."

"You trust your team." Dora pointed out. "_With your life_. Can you imagine me or James just swallowing orders from someone because of their rank?"

"Yes, I totally can." Regulus said, with a smirk.

Dora raised an eyebrow at him. "Enjoy your desk job." She assured him. "While we're saving lives."

"Of course, Dora. I'd just rather give the orders than follow them." Regulus said. The sneer hid a decidedly good-natured humour. Dora wrinkled her nose at him and left them to join the 'Ladies' queue while Regulus and Harry headed into the 'Gents'.

"Are you actually going to be training under Dora?" Regulus asked, turning back to Harry.

"I don't think so." Harry said, although Regulus' lips quirked into a little grin as he noted the alarm on the other boys face. "No." Harry said. "No, she hasn't been there that long herself so I'm sure that wouldn't happen."


End file.
